Never Die Young
by sadie-lady-nami
Summary: Chaud and the gang are almost out of eighth grade. Chaud meets Nami Hallissy, and friendship blossoms... and so does something else: absolute chaos. With the World Three back in action, Dr. Wily has Nami on the top of his blacklist... but why?
1. The Meeting

Disclaimer: I do not own the MegaMan characters or the name Mamoru. I wish I did, but I don't. Don't sue me. I am not worth it. However, I DO own the Hallissys and their Navis. They are mine.

Chapter One: The Meeting

March, Friday Morning

"Hey Chaud. Time to get up," ProtoMan said. "Get ready for school."

"Sure. Whatever..."

"Geez, you're friendly today. C'mon, let's go. Ten minutes."

"Yeah... only three more months of eighth grade and then I'll be in high school," Chaud sighed.

"Like it'll be any better... or are you hoping to see someone?"

"Shut up," Chaud snapped, turning a little pink. "You know there's no one I like at school, now or ever."

"Suuuure... let's go, Chaud."

Chaud picked up his schoolbag, starting out the door, picking up a note from his father:

_Out of town late tonight. Don't wait up._

"Of course he's out of town. BlazeQuest conference, right?"

"People expect a lot from your dad, Chaud. Let's go."

About five minutes away from school, they saw an unfamiliar black car in the parking lot.

"Wait... is that a Netopian flag?" Chaud asked.

"Yeah... hey, I remember hearing from Roll and Maylu that there was going to be a new student sometime this week," ProtoMan said.

"WHY, exactly, were you talking to Maylu and Roll?" Chaud asked.

"All the desk ports go to ONE place. And where we are, it's not exactly hard to hear them."

"True." Chaud was situated right by Maylu and Lan, both of whom he tended to avoid to varying degrees.

Chaud walked to his normal spot near the office building. It was close enough to his class so that he wouldn't be late, but just far enough to keep away from Lan and his friends. He took a book out of his bag, turned to his bookmark, and started reading.

For some reason or another, he couldn't keep his focus. His eyes read the words, but his mind wouldn't register them. He put the book away, a little annoyed.

_I'm just tired_, he thought.

The bell rang. Chaud got up, made his way to class, and walked through the door. He strode over to the lonely two-person desk that no one shared with him.

"Jack in, ProtoMan."

ProtoMan made his way to the school's server to report Chaud's attendance, semiconsciously aware of an unfamiliar Navi in the server as well.

The Navi was a girl, a real fighter by the looks of it. A ninja. Her dark hair was long, tied in a ponytail, somewhat like his own. She was a deep violet color, her shoes and cuffs were a dark gray, as were her eyes.

"_Pardon?"_ she asked. _"Qu'est-ce que c'est?"_

She obviously didn't speak English, either. (A/N: I am studying French. For purposes of the story, I am also pretending that Netopia is the MegaMan equivalent of France. I apologize in advance if any of it is wrong. I will fix it eventually. Until then you must deal.)

"S-Sorry..." ProtoMan left, slightly confused.

"What took you?" Chaud asked quietly.

"There's a new Navi here. She's Netopian."

"Oh. Interesting."

From then on, it was business as usual for the class. Open discussion and questions about the previous night's homework, about twenty minutes of reading (during which Chaud STILL couldn't concentrate on his book), then a lecture, this time about the most recent viral studies and how 'civilians' can aid in the studies.

However, halfway through the lecture, Principal Nomura entered the room. Just outside the door, Chaud could see a Netopian man, and...

His daughter, perhaps?

"Mr. Matsu? A word, if you please."

"Yes, sir." He stepped outside, which, predictably, set the students to talking the second the door closed.

"Did'ja see her?" Dex asked, turning around to face Lan and Maylu.

"See? I told you we'd get a new student, Lan!" Maylu said triumphantly.

"Yeah," Lan conceded. "I thought it'd be a guy..."

"Oh, well. Too much to hope for, I guess," Dex sighed.

"We'll like her," Yai said confidently, also turning around. "But...she's a Netopian, right?"

"Aren't Netopians supposed to be... I dunno... bigger?"

"Yeah, you're right," Lan agreed. "Like you, sort of."

"Good point," Maylu said. "She's on the small side, at least from what I saw."

The door opened. Mr. Matsu led the Netopian girl inside. "Class, this is Namirra Hallissy. She will be joining our class for the remainder of the year."

A general murmur of acknowledgement echoed throughout the room. Slightly disheartened at the lack of interest, Mr. Matsu directed her to the spot next to Chaud, being the only empty chair in the room.

And, thusly, Mr. Matsu continued with the lecture.

_She _is_ small,_ Chaud thought, paying less and less attention to the lecture. _Hmm... there's no way she could be Netopian. Unless... huh. She almost looks like she's from Nation X... no. No way. That's impossible,_ he told himself, pretending to take notes.

Namirra, however, really _was_ taking notes. Unlike her Navi, it seemed, she understood English. It was almost unnatural the way she wrote: completely silently. Her small hands and long black hair swaying freely below her shoulders, gray eyes and graceful manner...

Chaud shook his head quickly, trying to focus.

For some reason (no doubt some antic of Lan's or Dex's) the class burst out laughing, nearly drowning out the sound of the bell.

"Homework!" Mr. Matsu shouted over the shuffle of books and bags. "Three-page essay on virus studies and data compression! Due on Monday!"

"Great... gotta love essays."

The Rest of the Day Passes

Chaud spent the last hour of the school day trying (and still failing) to read his book. _WHY can't I concentrate today?_

His attention kept wandering to the new girl, Namirra. At lunch, Maylu and Yai had no trouble introducing themselves, and then introducing her to Lan and Dex. Normally at that point, Chaud wouldn't have given her a second thought since she was involved with Lan, but it struck him as a surprise that Namirra preferred to sit alone.

Like he did.

Alone, outside, under a tree, near the C-wing.

Quite bizarre.

The final bell rang at last, ending the most torturous homeroom period he had ever had to go through.

"Chaud! Come here a moment, please!" Mr. Matsu called through the crowd of people anxious to get out and go home.

Chaud froze. What had he done?

"You're not in trouble," he added. "Come here, please."

Namirra stood beside the teacher's desk, absently watching the students filter out of the room.

"Yes, sir?" Chaud asked.

"I would like you to show Namirra around the school. She's new to this area and I think she would appreciate any help you could give her. Perhaps today...?"

"Okay. I'll so that right away."

"Wonderful. Thank you, Chaud. I would do it myself, but things have been disappearing from school lately, and Principal Nomura wants me to look into it." Mr. Matsu motioned Namirra over. "Chaud here will show you around today. Is that all right?"

_You'd think he'd ask her that _before_ I agreed to do it today,_ Chaud thought.

"Yes. Thank you sir." Chaud was a little surprised. In retrospect, this was the first time he'd heard her voice. She didn't have an accent.

"All right. Get going, you two," Mr. Matsu advised them, "most rooms will be unlocked, but hurry before they lock the gates." He left in a hurry.

"Well... let's go then," Chaud said rather awkwardly. "Um... Namirra, right?"

"Call me Nami," she said quietly. "Chaud, is it?"

"Yeah," Chaud nodded, feeling incredibly embarrassed. "Let's go... Nami."


	2. Disaster

Chapter Two: Disaster

Friday Afternoon

An hour or so later, Chaud led Nami back to the front gates of the school.

"Well... that's pretty much it," Chaud concluded. "Just about everything you'll ever really need to know about this school..."

Nami smiled.

"Thanks, Chaud." They started towards the gates.

"Chaud! You're still here?" Chaud and Nami both looked around.

"Lan?" Chaud thought he recognized the voice.

"Hey! You guys seen my disk anywhere?" Dex asked, close behind Lan. Maylu and Yai were also coming up to the gates.

"Dex forgot his disk," Maylu explained. "He forgets _everything_."

"I do NOT!" Dex protested.

**Thump**. A strange noise.

"What the heck was that?" Lan asked.

"No idea. Maybe we should just leave," Dex said. "Forget my disk."

"No! We're gonna find it!"

**THUMP**. The same noise, louder this time.

"L-Let's go find your disk, Dex," Yai suggested.

"Good idea. It's green, right?" Maylu asked.

"Yeah," Dex affirmed.

"Oh... Is this is?" Nami asked. She took something out of her pocket.

"M-My disk! Where was it?" Dex asked, taking if from her.

"It was in the pile of spare disks in the back of the room. Mr. Matsu told me to take one."

"Thanks! But... what are you going to write your essay on?" Dex asked.

"I can go one day without a disk, can't I?"

"Besides, she's new," Yai said. "I doubt Mr. Matsu would hold it to her quite as strictly as he would anyone else."

**_THUMP_**.

"There it is again," Maylu noted with a frown.

"Let's check it out," Lan said.

"Is that a good idea?" Nami asked.

"Probably not," Maylu said in an undertone as Lan and Dex took off. "My gosh... One of these days, Lan..."

"Lan! Wait a second!" Chaud shouted. "You shouldn't- I mean you- Darn you, Lan, slow down!"

Before Chaud or Nami had said anything else, all four had disappeared, looking for the source of the noise.

Chaud shook his head. "Lan... what are we gonna do with you...?"

Nami started following them, Chaud had no choice but to go with her. Why, he wasn't sure, but he felt obligated to follow her.

They caught up just as Lan and the others dashed through the door to the teacher's lounge, which automatically shut and locked itself.

"Lan! LAN! Open the door!"

"Maylu! Yai! Dex! Anyone!"

They both finally gave up trying to establish contact with the others.

"There's gotta be a way in, right...?" Nami asked, apparently not expecting an answer. Instead, she pulled out a violet PET. "So... Sen?"

"_Ouai?"_ The violet Navi ProtoMan had seen in the server appeared on Nami's PET. They had a rapid conversation in Netopian, Sen nodded. _"D'accord!"_

"Wha...?" Chaud was utterly lost.

Whatever Nami had been planning, it was unnecessary, as the door was suddenly blasted apart as thought it had been rigged with explosives, the force of which blew both Nami and Chaud backwards against the wall behind them.

Once they had recovered, they saw that all four of the others were inside, completely motionless.

"Guys...? You okay?" Nami passed her hand in front of Maylu's open, glazed eyes. "This is strange... hello? Lan?" She did the same thing with Lan. "Anybody home?"

"It's like hypnosis," Chaud guessed, studying Yai's and Dex's vacant stares. "What- or who- could cause this?"

"I don't know..." She looked up. The door to Principal Nomura's office burst open. "DUCK!" She grabbed the collar of his vest, forcing him down to the floor.

"Wha-!" A streak of light shot over their heads. "What was that?"

"I'd rather not find out," Nami replied, getting up. "That must be what made these four like the living dead."

"Yeah. Bigger question. What are WE gonna do about it?" a voice asked.

"Sen! You fixed your language program!" Nami smiled. "You know, Mamoru could've done it for you."

"Not like he's helping now."

"True. However, we're still faced with your wonderful question."

"Also true."

"We'll get hit if we try a head-on assault," ProtoMan said. "We need something to block the light."

"Parasols do that, right?" Sen asked. "One of the teachers took a trip to an umbrella factory." Looking around, Chaud and Nami saw a bright, neon pink parasol on a desk. "Either that, or they're avoiding sunburn."

Slightly deterred by the less-than-attractive color, Nami picked it up, and spun it around once. The spinning opened it.

"Well. Unorthodox, but what the hey," she sighed, closing it.

"Just hope it works," Chaud agreed.

"Let's find out!" She whipped around him, and a split second later, blocked another shot of light.

Chaud froze. Not only was he shocked at Nami's reflexes, he had heard something: the activation of a dimensional area.

"We should get out of here and get help," he suggested. "I don't think we should stay here..."

"We can't leave them like that!" Nami pointed out, motioning to Lan and the others.

The dimensional area burst into existence, Chaud instinctively crossfused before the enemy could arrive.

"Nami, get out of here, now!" he shot at her. "Go! I'll handle this!"

Nami stood still for a moment, then nodded and ran for the door.

"NOT SO FAST!" a voice shouted. As she laid her hand on the handle, it shocked her. Not a little shock, a real electric shock. She drew her hand back quickly, obviously not going anywhere.

The voice came from nowhere, yet it was unmistakably a Darkloid.

"You, girl. What's your name?"

"Well, _why_ would I tell _you_?" Nami asked, looking around, unsure of who or what she was talking to.

"I remember you. That attitude. Namirra. If I kill you, that'll be one less thing to worry about--- and a reward for me as well!" The Darkloid FlashMan appeared before them, an evil gleam in his eyes. "Deathly Flash!"

"ProtoShield!" Chaud dashed in front of her, blocking the shot.

"Of course. Agent Chaud. I should have guessed you'd be here." FlashMan walked forward, lights flickering and shorting out in his wake. "I'm afraid you're too late."

"What for, dare I ask?" Chaud snapped.

"I've already gotten what I came here for. It's with Dr. Wily now!"

"Wily? But Dr. Wily is supposed to be dead!"

"Dr. Wily doesn't die quite so easily!" FlashMan cried in anger. "Fortunately, the rest of you humans DO!"

FlashMan knocked Chaud out of the way with an overpowering Flash attack, then started towards Nami.

_No!_ Chaud tried to shout, something, anything, but the last attack had paralyzed him.

"Namirra! You die here and now!" FlashMan shocked her into paralysis as well, then shouted, "Deathly Flash!"

Fighting past the paralysis, Chaud managed to yell, "Nami!"

She disappeared in a bright ball of light, the computers in the room short-circuiting and causing miniature explosions.

"At last. Peace," FlashMan sighed, turning around to deal with Chaud.

"Ironic, isn't it?"

"What?" FlashMan whipped around at the sound of her voice.

"The thought of peace from those who detest it. Rather strange." The ball of light was split in half, shuriken stars flying at FlashMan.

"But how!" FlashMan barely avoided the blind shots, still in a state of utter shock.

The violet Navi emerged from the remains of the energy ball. Nami, crossfused.

She leapt into the air, more shuriken stars rained down on FlashMan until he was on the ground.

"How... DARE... you..." Weak and defeated, FlashMan staggered to his feet. "I... can't believe... you... traitor..."

FlashMan stood away, and cried "Flash of Despair!" An overwhelming blast of light filled the room. Chaud, still paralyzed behind the ProtoShield, was unaffected, but Nami got the full blast of the energy. "Never... get deleted... even if defeated... that flash is the beacon of pure disaster!" FlashMan disappeared, the dimensional area collapsed.

The ProtoShield vanished, along with both crossfusions. Nami leaned against a nearby desk, trembling.

"Nami?" Chaud stood up, still reeling from paralysis. He shook his head to clear his mind, a little surprised that she was still standing. "Are you all right?"

"I... don't know..." She swayed slightly, running her fingers through her hair. "I feel dizzy..." She collapsed, falling to the floor.

"Nami!" Chaud knelt beside her, sliding his arm beneath her shoulders, raising her up. "What could have caused to faint so fast? She was fine--- okay, semi-fine--- a minute ago," ProtoMan said.

"I don't know what that was... but we should probably bring her home with us," Chaud said. "At least until she wakes up."

He slipped his free hand beneath her knees, lifting her up with relative ease, noticing something he hadn't before. A black ribbon around Nami's neck with what looked like a silver charm with the letter 'N' burned into it. Something about it looked familiar, but he couldn't quite place it...

"Chaud? What happened?" Lan and the others barred the way out, all looking curious and confused. "What happened to _her_?"

"Just let me out. Get lost," Chaud snapped, shouldering his way between Lan and Dex, still supporting Nami. "Go home, all of you."


	3. The Prelims

Chapter Three: The Prelims

Friday Afternoon

Chaud walked the entire way home, Nami still unconscious, thoughts and theories running through his head a mile a minute.

_What could FlashMan have wanted? Why does Wily need it? And how did FlashMan know Nami? Why did he call her a traitor? _He_ was the one trying to blast her to bits..._

Once he had gotten inside his house, he laid her down on the soda that he normally threw his backpack on after school.

"Well... we've got all weekend to do that essay..."

"Let's wait up and see if Nami's ok," Chaud said, sitting down on the floor in front of the sofa, pulling out a piece of paper and a pencil to begin his essay.

He only had been writing for ten minutes or so until she woke up.

"Huh... wha...?"

"Nami?" Chaud looked up from the table that he was writing on.

"... Sen... m-midnight..."

"What's she talking about? It's 5:45," ProtoMan said.

Sen answered immediately. "Nami! Are you all right?"

Nami's eyes flew open. "S... Sen..." She faltered.

"Nami!"

"Where... are we...?"

"In my house." Chaud finally spoke up. He turned around in order to face her, essay forgotten. "Feeling better?"

"Y-Yeah..." Nami managed to sit upright. "Wha... What happened?"

"You blacked out after that Flash of Despair, or whatever it was," he reminded her.

"Oh... yeah..."

"If you're feeling up to it, I can walk you home," he offered.

"Sure... thanks, Chaud."

---

A month passed after FlashMan's attack on the school. Lan, Maylu, Yai, and Dex could remember nothing of the incident, and in all honesty, Chaud preferred it that way.

He and Nami had become fast friends (shocking all who knew Chaud half as well as he ever allowed anyone to). She was a little more extroverted and immediately friendly than he was, and, despite her appearance, was a year younger than he was.

For a while after the attack, she and Chaud had been trying to figure out what FlashMan could have stolen. Obviously it was something either very valuable, or very dangerous, or else Wily wouldn't have wanted it.

"Maybe it's some sort of weapon," Nami suggested one afternoon after classes when they were walking home. "He seems to like that sort of thing."

"True. But why would the school allow a weapon to be kept in the staff room?" Chaud asked.

"Yeah..."

They both fell into silence. Chaud liked walking home with her. She was intelligent enough to be an investigator for the Officials if she had wanted to. She may not have been too terribly strong or intimidating, but she could at least protect herself.

"Maybe it's a kind of data," she tried again. "What if it was some sort of Data X that can give him ultimate power or something?"

"Maybe," Chaud agreed. "But still. Why would something like that be kept in a public school?"

"Maybe it's the last place anyone would ever think to look," Nami suggested.

"Hmm... maybe. We could call in reinforcements," Chaud said. "Get some help."

"I don't know if that'd be a good idea," Nami sighed. "I mean, that would call attention to the problem, and that might be exactly what Wily wants: get a whole pack of Officials there, and wipe them all out with something."

"Hm. I never thought of it like that..."

These sort of discussions occurred every day, until one Friday in April.

They had a substitute teacher, who immediately called roll.

"Ayano, Yai?" Present.

"Blaze, Chaud?" Also present.

Roll call continued...

"Hallissy, Namirra?" No answer. "Namirra?"

"She's not here," Maylu said.

"All right."

_Not here? Nami? That's a first,_ Chaud thought. Then again, he hadn't known her long enough to make those sort of judgments, yet... missing school didn't seem like something she would do purposely. _She'll be here Monday..._

He called her continuously throughout the weekend. She wasn't there. Chaud reassured himself that she'd be at school on Monday.

But she wasn't there either. Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday passed. Still no Nami. Finally, when she still hadn't shown up on Friday, Chaud decided to call her again. No answer.

It was as though she had never existed. She had been wiped from the face of the earth.

"Stop worrying about her," ProtoMan said. "She'll be fine."

"What if something happened to her?" Chaud asked himself. "What if someone overheard us talking, and someone got her...?"

"Chaud! Chill!" ProtoMan shouted. "Stop worrying! Hey, I heard there was going to be a tournament in the Den Tech Cybersquare today, wanna check it out?" ProtoMan asked, trying to get his mind off of Nami's disappearance.

"Sure. Go for it," Chaud said, jacking in to his computer.

ProtoMan made his way to the Square where a fairly large crowd of Navis waited.

Apparently, the task was to find the correct data for a set of questions. Easy, right?

"Ok. Question 1: Complete the pattern: A E I M Q U blank. What do you think?" ProtoMan asked.

"Hm..." Chaud thought for a moment. "You want Data Y."

"Ok."

(A/N: I know, I know. Prelims suck. Tourneys are better. I promise.)

Eventually, they had found the all the data they needed, and turned it in. Fortunately, they advanced to the next round. Those Navis that had lost left, those that advanced stayed in the Square for further instruction.

"We will contact you with information as to where and when the second preliminary test is to be held," the announcer Navi said.

"Jack out, ProtoMan," Chaud said, turning off the computer. "Good job. I'm going to bed... school tomorrow..."

"Not yet, Lan calling," ProtoMan said.

"What do YOU want?" Chaud snapped at Lan's image on his PET.

"Hey! Chill out!" Lan said at once, raising his hands submissively. "I just wanted to ask you if you knew what was wrong with Nami!"

"Wha... Nami? Is she back?"

"Yeah," Lan said. "I figured you'd know. She came back about ten minutes ago, and Maylu said she was crying... what's going o—"

Chaud had hung up, not waiting to hear another word. He ran down the lane to her house, rang the doorbell, and waited anxiously, completely breathless.

A young man opened the door. "Eh? You need something?"

"I--- is Nami here?" Chaud asked, confused.

"Oh! Yeah... come in." The young man led him inside, shutting the door. "I'm Raize, by the way. I'm one of Nami's brothers."

One _of her brothers?_

His confusion must have showed. "She never told you about us?" Raize asked.

"I think... she said something..."

"Yeah. There's Mamoru, the oldest, Ailee, her sister, me, and Sean."

Mamoru, studying papers on a table in the front room, was a redheaded man of about 20 years, the woman Ailee in the kitchen appeared to be his brown-haired twin; they had the same green eyes. Raize, about 18, looked a lot like Nami: black hair and gray eyes. Sean, 16, pacing the upstairs landing, however, was blond with blue eyes.

"Y-Yeah..."

"Wait... where is she?" Raize asked, looking around.

"Nami?" Sean asked, descending the stairs. Raize nodded. Sean said something in Netopian, clearly not understanding English. Mamoru sighed, his head in his hands, Ailee shook her head sadly.

"Oh... well... she's in her room," Raize said. "I can't guarantee she'll talk to you, but if you can..." He shook his head. "Never mind. She's upstairs, third door to the right."

"Thanks..." Chaud walked up the stairs, mind reeling.

"Wonder what happened," ProtoMan said in dismay. "Probably something big..."

"I just hope it isn't too bad..." Chaud knocked on the door, noticing that it was locked. "Hello? Nami? It's Chaud..."

Footsteps. The door opened a moment later.

"H-Hey, Chaud..." Maylu had been right, Nami had definitely been crying.

"Nami..." He wanted to rush into the room and hug her, but something told him that probably wasn't the best thing to do right now. "Wh-What happened?"

"Come in..." She let him through the door, shutting it behind him, sitting down on her bed.

Her room was simple, white, black, and violet, with a lot of cardboard boxes in the corner. She must not have completely moved in yet.

"What's happened?" Chaud asked. "Where have you been?"

"N-Netopia... my parents died two weeks ago," she told him softly.

"Oh..." Unsure of what to say, Chaud sank down beside her on the bed. "I... I'm sorry to hear that..."

"I don't know what we're going to do now," she said in almost a whisper. "The Officials in Netopia want us to go back to Netopia, and they want to split us up..."

_No... they wouldn't do that to them...?_

"But even if we stay here, Sean and I are still too young to live on our own... and Raize and the twins have to work..." She shook her head, silent.

"Hey... if things get too bad you can always come stay with me," Chaud offered. "Someone's always there..."

"Thanks..." She trailed off, silent once more. Semi-consciously Chaud laid his arm around her shoulders. She rested her head softly against his shoulder, clearly on the verge of tears again.

"Cheer up, Nami," ProtoMan said, smiling wryly. "The class is taking an overnight trip to the new Yoka zoo next week..."

"What?" Nami asked, a note of confusion in her shaky voice. "The... zoo? We _are_ in eighth grade, right?"

Chaud laughed for the first time all week. "They were desperate on that one. I guess they thought even thirteen-year-olds need a break."

"The way they figure it, it's like you guys are sill three," ProtoMan added. Nami smiled weakly.

"Do you want to go?" Chaud asked.

"... Only if you do."

Her words surprised him, catching him off guard, but after a moment, he smiled.

"Why not. Sounds fair." Her smile broadened.

"Hear that, Sen?" she asked, directing her question to the computer on her desk, lifting her head from Chaud's shoulder.

"Eh? What's that?" Sen's image appeared on the computer along with four others, presumably her siblings Navis. "Hey, Chaud."

"Hey."

"By the way, this is Akiron, LaMoon, Torch, and Orion," Sen said quickly, nodding to the other Navis.

Akiron was a dark Navi, much like Sen was. LaMoon seemed like Akiron's female twin, only she was more light and airy. Torch was evidently fiery like the flaming reds and oranges he wore, and Orion was simply green with a star, carrying a small board-shaped piece of data.

"We're going on a class trip," Nami said. "Yoka zoo, next week."

"Zoo?" Torch asked. "What are you, three?"

"Torch!" Sen snapped. "Shut up!"

Torch laughed. "Sorry! Hey, we going cyber-sliding or what?"

"Yeah, let's go," Orion agreed.

"We'll be in our usual spot," LaMoon said. "If you need us, give us a shout."

"Thanks, LaMoon. Have fun," Nami said. The images disappeared with numerous blips.

"I think I'll go now," Chaud said, smiling. "See you tomorrow, okay?"

"Okay."

---

The day of the trip arrived. Lan arrived late enough to get them caught in traffic for an hour in the bus, and after five MORE hours they managed to get to Yoka just after 4 PM.

"Class 8-B!" Mr. Matsu called over them. "Class! I have just received news that the zoo is closed for repairs today. Feel free to explore the rest of the town, but be back at the Ura Inn by five o'clock for dinner!"

After this little spiel, the class dispersed in various directions. Chaud spent a while wandering around, looking for the Inn until he heard ProtoMan.

"Chaud. There's Nami."

"Hm?" Looking around, he saw Nami leaning up against a wall near to a bridge passing over a small stream.

"Are you SURE this is what we're up against?" Nami asked Sen. "Ohh... he can NOT be serious!"

"He LOOKED pretty serious when he tried to KILL you with that flashy thingy!" Sen shot back. "I am POSITIVE."

"Well, what are we supposed to do that will be useful?"

"Tell someone! Like... like Chaud. He's an Official, he'll be able to do more than we can as far as stopping the maniac goes."

"... You're right. We should tell Chaud."


	4. The Zoo

Chapter Four: The Zoo

Saturday Afternoon

"Tell me what?" Nami looked up.

"You know, you have impeccable timing," she commented.

"So I've been told. What is it?"

"FlashMan," she said dryly. "We think we might have a lead on what it was he stole from the school."

"Really? How did you get it?"

"Well... we took a bad banner link and wound up lost in the UnderNet for a while. While we were stuck there, we overheard some sort of red animal Navi talking about it with a couple of HeelNavis. They were talking about something called a TetraCode... does that mean anything to you?" she asked.

Chaud racked his brains for a moment. "No... I've never heard of it."

"Neither have we," Sen added.

"Well, the prefix 'tetra' means 'four'," Nami said. "So there's four codes..."

"Codes to what?" Chaud asked.

"That's the mystery," she told him. "We cross-referenced it with every data base and search engine on the planet. So far, nothing."

"Wait a sec," Sen said. "I just found something. Take a look at this."

Sen brought up a small, uncaptioned picture. It showed eight vertical lines on the left side, each with a combination of letters in front of it, like this:

Sch Z DNNTVS Hp

After the four lines, a small oval-shaped object divided into quarters with a small black rectangle on the top and bottom. Three circles surrounded the object like a neutron sign A/N: If you watch Jimmy Neutron, it's like the circles around the center dot.. Finally, a small black hourglass-shaped picture was to the right of the oval object. The sand in the black hourglass was running very low on top, the bottom almost filled.

"What the hey? That's it?" ProtoMan asked.

"Yep. Unfortunately," Sen sighed.

"Shoot. At least it's something..."

"Yeah..."

"Class 8-B of Den Tech City! Report to the inn for dinner!" a woman's voice called over the PA system.

"Ailee?" Chaud thought he recognized the voice.

"Yeah. She learned English. She said she was working around here somewhere..."

"Then you know where the inn is?" Chaud asked hopefully.

"Nope. I wish..."

"HEY! Nami! Chaud!" The two of them looked around across the bridge. One of their classmates, Terry Galvin, ran towards them. "Come on, guys, you two and Lan are all we're waiting for!"

"Course, Lan's always late," Terry's Navi SparkMan added. "All the same, better hurry."

"We don't know where the inn is," Nami pointed out with a sigh.

"Then follow me." Terry took her hand and led her across the bridge. Chaud paused, frowning.

"What's up?" ProtoMan asked. "Something wrong?"

"I just... hm. I felt strange... when---"

"Terry took Nami?" ProtoMan finished for him. "Huh. It's probably just because she's our best friend."

"Or because Terry's a jerk." Chaud made to follow them; a flash of red caught his eye. "Huh?"

"Let's go, Chaud."

"Right..."

"Chaud!" Lan caught up with him after dinner in the boy's bedroom. "I need to talk to you about something."

"Is it Official business?" Chaud asked.

"Well... no, but---"

"Then I don't want to hear it."

"But it's about you!" Lan blurted out, dragging him into a corner, away from the others.

"Lan! What's this about!" Chaud demanded.

"Listen, I heard from my dad that lots of Navis are getting deleted just like that! Operators are getting KILLED, too! Sometimes both together, but most of the time it's just a straight out murder!" Lan explained heatedly.

"Yeah. So... how, again, is this relevant to me?" Chaud asked.

"Both my dad and I think you and ProtoMan might be next!"

Chaud was silent for a moment.

"Oh, please. Grow up."

"Chaud, I'm serious! Just watch out for yourself!" Lan stalked away, considerably moody.

"Worried?" ProtoMan asked.

"No. Just shocked a little. Assassins... please."

The Next Morning

"Everyone, make sure you know everything about the animals in the zoo!" Mr. Matsu told them. "There MAY be an essay about it!"

"Translation: There WILL be an essay about it," Nami sighed.

"What kind of essay would THAT be? 'What I Learned From The Monkeys In Cage Twelve'?" Sen asked.

"At least it's not a whole report," Chaud reasoned.

"Point taken," Nami sighed. "Hey... I need to talk to you..." Her uncharacteristically gloomy tone startled Chaud a bit.

"Sure... is something wrong?" They let the rest of the class go ahead of them on the way to the zoo.

"Well... yes. Someone from the inn was killed last night."

"Not Ailee?" Chaud asked, horrified.

"No, thank God. But a lot of people think it was that Black Assassin again that killed last night."

"Black Assassin?"

"Go figure."

"Who died?" Chaud asked conversationally.

"Someone named Youri," Nami told him.

"Hm... I don't think I've heard that name..."

"Anyway... I think her murder was a mistake," she continued.

"Really? Why's that?"

"I... honestly think he was after you."

Chaud stared in complete shock at her.

"Not you too!"

"Chaud, I just want you to be careful!" Nami said pleadingly. "I don't want you to get hurt, much less killed!"

Chaud heard the concern in her voice; saw it in her eyes. He softened his tone, sighing.

"All right... all right, just don't bring it up again."

"Ok." Nami's gait lightened a little.

"Any idea how we're going to get all the information on the animals?" Chaud asked, wanting to change the subject.

"All we have to do is listen to those educational devices next to the cages," she said. "That should give us all the information we need."

"Good." The class filed into the zoo, immediately shocked and impressed.

"It's... really... big," someone said. "There must be lots of animals here!"

In truth, there were only twelve cages with animals. But by the time they had passed through the entry line, it was already clear that all the animals were in a bad mood. All except, to Nami's delight, the panda bears.

"They're so cute!" She smiled, looking at the mother bear. Chaud would never have guessed that this was the same girl who had been fretting about assassins less than a half hour ago.

"Hey... they ARE kind of... clever," Chaud admitted, watching one of the littlest cubs turning a playful somersault. He would NEVER have said this out loud, but they were rather sweet. "Wonder why they aren't in such a bad mood... ah, well..."

"Okay, all that's left to get info on are the lions, right?" Nami asked, reluctantly turning her gaze from the three lovable little panda cubs.

"Yeah. Let's go." Chaud and Nami turned to see all seven lions and lionesses out of the open cage, growling threateningly.

"Umm... Chaud?" Nami had turned the opposite direction upon seeing the lions, now watching in horror as the pair of pythons slid out of opened cages, accompanied by the three elephants. "This isn't SUPPOSED to happen... is it?"

"I should hope not!"

"What's going ON?" Lan shouted, narrowly escaping a bite from the male python as he ran over to them. The python retreated, hissing menacingly.

"HEEEELLLP!" The condor flew overhead, a small boy in its talons.

"This is TERRIBLE!"

"And it's about to get worse!" The lions advanced on them, roaring, ready to attack.

"Get back!" Lan pulled Chaud and Nami into the space between the panda cage and an observation unit. "Huh... wonder why the pandas aren't going nuts...?"

"The zookeeper! The zookeeper!" A zoo guide came running toward them, panicking.

"What, is he being attacked?" Lan asked.

"No! He's controlling the animals using microchips he implanted to monitor health!"

"That's sick!" Nami cried.

"If someone could stop him, that would stop this rampage!"

"We're on it!" Chaud assured her.

"Okay, I have an idea, but---"

Lan broke off. A dimensional area formed around the entire zoo. Three voices shouted "CROSS-FUSION!" at the same time.

Nami took action at once. "Anyone who can crossfuse, please do so and protect the others!" she shouted across the crowd. Several more voices rang out, and a few people began repelling the animals.

"I'll stay here and help," Lan said. "Chaud, you and Nami should go find the zookeeper!"

"How? We're trapped!" Nami pointed out. Suddenly, an idea struck her. "The multiunit..." She tossed a shuriken star at the cover over the multiunit port on the panda educational device. She took a deep breath, and touched the port.

Nami was gone a moment later. She had disappeared into the multiunit.

Chaud followed her in a heartbeat, the strangest sensation coursing through him.

After a moment, the feeling stopped. Slightly disoriented, he looked around for Nami. She was shaking her head to rid herself of the confusion.

"Ok... so we're IN the computer now," Nami said. "Now what?"

"We find the zookeeper. Let's follow the path and see where it takes us."

It wasn't long until they saw an unmoving virus barring the path.

"Huh. It's not trying to kill us," Nami noticed.

"That's weird... I wonder..." Chaud slashed at it. The Mettaur dodged, squeaking furiously.

"It's... squeaking..." Nami crouched down next to the virus, until she was eye level with it.

"Nami! What are you doing?" Chaud asked. Nami was tapping the Mettaur's helmet. The virus jumped up and bit her wrist.

"Owch!" She recoiled, her wrist bleeding. "Huh...?" She examined the bite mark. "A mouse bite?" She passed her hand over the wound; it healed instantly.

"How are we going to get rid of it?" Chaud asked, slightly shocked.

"Maybe the programs here can help us," Nami pointed out. "If there's an anti-virus program, it should be able to move our little friend here..."

"I'll look." Chaud searched around for the anti-virus program. Finally, the navy blue program revealed itself.

"May i be of assistance?" the program asked.

"We need help, there's a Mettaur this way that bit my friend..."

"But... Mettaurs have no teeth... this is certainly strange. Lead the way."

Chaud led the program to the now squealing virus.

"See?"

"Oh, dear... One moment... AAAAHH!" The virus had leapt up, and bit the program's neck joint, causing the program to short-circuit and explode.

Nami and Chaud both stared in shock and horror at the innocent looking virus sitting in the middle of the path.

"Oh... my God..."

"Well... _that_ didn't work," Nami said shakily. "Thank God it didn't do that to us..."

"Yeah... but now how are we going to get rid of it without losing our heads?"

"Myow... Myaw..." A cat program prowled behind them.

"You ever get the feeling that these systems are going insane?" Nami asked.

"Yeah... wait a minute! That's a cat!"

"Yeah," Nami nodded slowly. "So what?"

"That's it!"

"_What's_ it?"

"We need to scare the mouse virus away using the cat program," Chaud explained.

"Brilliant!"

Chaud tapped the program's shoulder (did it HAVE a shoulder?), and immediately felt himself changing.

"WHOA!" In the blink of an eye, he registered the fact that he was on all fours on the ground. He heard Nami's utterly shocked voice from high above him.

"You... Chaud... you're a cat."


	5. Disaster 2

Chapter Five

Disaster #2

Chaud looked down at his hands. It was true. He had become a red-furred cat.

"WHOA!" His panicked cry escaped him before he could stop himself. "Wha... what am I---"

"Chaud... I don't speak cat..." Nami looked down at him in shocked concern. Clearly she couldn't understand a word he was saying... rather, 'meow'-ing.

"Myaw..." Nami heard an incomprehensible groan as Chaud hung his furry head.

"Well... maybe _you_ can scare him away," Nami said half-heartedly. "That might work... right?"

"Mrow."

"Rrright... pretending I understood that..." She gently stroked his fur. "C'mon. Maybe it _will_ work."

She scooped him up in her arms. Unable to control his actions for some odd (catlike?) reason, he nuzzled her neck, purring, a little more relaxed. Maybe being a cat wasn't so bad. She smiled.

"Are you still in there, or are you really a cat?" She set him down in front of the virus.

Not knowing what to do, Chaud stared at the virus for a moment, then decided to growl at it.

"EEP!" The virus scurried away, afraid of the red cat.

_That was... sad._

Nami laughed, watching the little virus run away. Suddenly, Chaud became a normal human again.

"Whoa... that was... bizarre..."

"You ok?" Nami asked, helping him up.

"Yeah... like I said... REALLY bizarre..."

"I would imagine so," she agreed, brushing a lock of red fur off his shoulder. "Let's go."

"Right."

---

"God! Let's hope that was the last of them," Nami sighed after she and Chaud had both been rubber balls for seals to play with, and explode from playing too hard.

"Y'know, I think I prefer being a cat to a ball... or a banana, come to that," Chaud said wryly.

"No joke."

"Hey, jerk! Hey, JERK!"

"WHAT?" Chaud and Nami both rounded on each other, both thinking the other had said that.

"What'd you say!" Chaud snapped.

"I didn't say ANYTHING! What did YOU say?" she barked.

"Nothing!"

"Nothing!"

"Huh?" Both of them looked around, seeing it was a virus who had been yelling at them.

"Huh?" the virus repeated.

Nami sighed. "It's a parrot."

"It's a parrot," it repeated.

"And I thought this place couldn't get ANY worse..." Nami knelt down beside the virus, which leapt up and kicked the back of her head. "OW!" She eyed the virus angrily. "She sells seashells by the seashore."

"She sells seashells by the--- aah!" The virus bit it's tongue and exploded.

"Well, that was pathetic... who would come along and say 'hey jerk' to a virus?" Chaud asked, leading the way.

"I don't know."

"MYRAAAW!"

"AAAH! Help!" A Navi ran across their path, pursued by a virus impersonating a mongoose.

"I got this one," Nami sighed, laying a hand on a nearby program. She became a scaly purple-black cobra, scaring the mongoose away.

"Whoa... thanks," the exhausted Navi gasped. "It came outta nowhere... scared the daylights outta me..."

"Well, it's gone now," Nami assured him.

"Let's go. We've gotta find the sever," Chaud reminded her.

"The sever? I can take you there," the Navi offered. "I know where it is."

"You've been here before?" Nami asked.

"Been here? I work here!" Laughing jovially, the Navi walked in the general direction of where they had been heading, motioning for them to follow with a sweep of his arm.

It took about two total minutes to find the server from that point. Once there, Chaud and Nami turned to thank the mystery Navi. As it was, the Navi was a mystery no more.

"You fools! You have fallen into the trap yet again!" the red animal Navi snickered. "You humans are so gullible!"

"It's you," Nami realized. "The Navi in the UnderNet!"

"Oh, but sweet little girls would do well to stay away from such an awfully dangerous place," the Navi said wisely.

"Sage advice," Chaud agreed, "but beside the point! How do we stop the animals?"

"Only I can. This indestructible server allows me to control them ALL!"

"What do you want with the animals? What'd they ever do to you?" Nami demanded.

"That is NO concern of yours! Now then... PREPARE TO DIE! Take the call of the wild to your graves!"

"HOLD IT!" Nami threw shuriken connected to a steel net, caging the Navi to the ground. "Why are you doing all this!"

"The TetraCode, dear. That's ALL I'll ever need out of this scummy place!"

"BeastMan!" The zookeeper's voice rang through. "Get out of there, NOW!"

"All right, I'm out!" BeastMan leapt up, ramming his shoulder against the cage. It broke apart almost immediately, and BeastMan kept running, charging straight into Chaud and Nami.

The force of the attack sent both Chaud and Nami flying. By the time they had recovered, BeastMan was gone.

"Shoot... he's gone," Nami sighed.

"Bigger problem. The animals are going to KILL someone if we don't stop them," Chaud pointed out.

"True, but how do we turn the thing off? There's no switch, no buttons, nothing! Just a solid wall of data! How do you break an indestructible thing?" Nami panicked.

"_Nothing_ is indestructible," Chaud said firmly. "We just hit it until it breaks!"

"Good enough for me!" And with that, she leapt into the air, hurling shuriken stars at it. Chaud slashed at the weakening spot with his sword. In a matter of minutes, the server had cracked, and a small transmitter fell out.

"Hm. Looks more 'broken' than 'indestructible'." Chaud picked up the transmitter. It was blinking a red light, and every now and again, let out a soft, high-pitched, irritating whistle. Without waiting for Nami's opinion, he crushed it.

"Hey! Chaud! Nami!" ProtoMan's voice reached them from outside. "It worked!"

"Better get out of there, though," Sen added. "That thing is rigged to self-destruct."

"If he thought it was indestructible, why did he rig it?" Nami asked.

"I don't know. Otherwise, it's pretty predictable."

Moments later, Chaud and Nami stood outside, back to normal, in the dimensional area. The last of the animals were being put back into the cages.

"Hey! You guys did it!" Chaud and Nami looked around, recognizing Terry's blue hat over his black hair. "Not a moment too soon, either. The poor little boy the condor kidnapped almost got shocked."

"By you?" Chaud muttered in an undertone.

"Sorry? What was that?"

"Nothing."


	6. The BubbleWash

Chapter Six:

The BubbleWash

Saturday Night

"I can't believe Mr. Matsu's still making us do that stupid essay," Chaud moaned once at home after the disastrous zoo trip. "Like we're still supposed to remember _anything_ we'd learned after that..."

"At least he gave you until Monday to do it," ProtoMan reasoned. "Hey, Nami's coming over tomorrow to work on it with you."

"Ok. That sounds... good."

"It scares me that you actually have to _think_ about that."

"Shut up."

---

Sunday Morning

Chaud woke a little earlier than usual. He'd had a strange dream about pandas and red rubber balls... He lay in bed trying to understand what it meant...

Failing that, he threw off the covers and got dressed to meet Nami.

Four hours later, she still hadn't shown up at noon.

"She said she'd be here by ten," ProtoMan said, worried. "Something's gotta be wrong for her to be two hours late... you don't think something happened?"

"Let's go over and make sure she's ok," Chaud said. "And... if something _did_ happen, maybe we can help."

"Sounds good to me."

As soon as Chaud rang the doorbell to her house, Nami opened the door, apparently home alone.

"Oh! Hi, Chaud," she said, sounding tired. She let him inside, shut the door, and fell back on the couch in the front room.

"Are you feeling all right?" Chaud asked.

"yeah, fine," Nami sighed, closing her eyes in frustration.

"You don't look it... ProtoMan and I were expecting you two hours ago to work on the zoo essay," Chaud reminded her, trying not to sound accusatory.

Nami's eyes snapped open. "Oh, my God! I'm so sorry, Chaud! I totally forgot!" She looked apologetically towards him. "I'm really sorry to keep you waiting..."

"It's ok... we thought you hit your head or something," ProtoMan said.

"What made you forget, out of curiosity?" Chaud asked.

"Ailee's making me wait for a delivery," Nami explained. "Y'know, since she has to work. Something called a BubbleWash..."

"A BubbleWash?"

"Some sort of dishwasher she said she's SOOO excited about," Sen told them.

"Fun. How can someone be excited over a dishwasher?" ProtoMan asked.

"Search me. Personally, I'd take washing dishes by hand over waiting all day for something to do it _for_ you," Nami sighed. "But, as it turns out, I've been in this exact spot, listening for the doorbell so I can get the BubbleWash once it comes."

"I admire your stoicism." Chaud took the seat across from her. "I could wait for it with you. Maybe we could get some work done after all."

"Thanks... You have NO idea how much I'd appreciate that."

---

A semi-productive hour later, the doorbell rang again. Nami got up and answered it at once.

"Hey—Terry? What... are you doing here?" Nami asked.

"I wanted to ask you something," Terry said indifferently, fully aware that Chaud was in the room.

"Couldn't you have called?"

"Well... since my PET was stepped on by a giraffe---"

"Oh, my God!"

"--- I haven't been able to make any calls at all," Terry explained. "Um... can I come in?"

"Oh, sure!" She let him in, and shut the door as Terry took a seat in the room. "So... what was it you wanted to ask?" Nami prompted him.

"That... well, I was going to ask if you---"

The doorbell rang again.

"Hold that thought for a sec, 'k?" Nami answered the door.

"Hallissy residence?"

"Yes sir." It was the BubbleWash at long last. Once Nami had signed for it, she pushed the big box through the living room to the kitchen. "Well... finally... no more waiting," she sighed.

"What was that?" Terry asked curiously.

"Hm? Oh, the new BubbleWash my sister bought," Nami told him. "I've been waiting for it all day."

"Do you need a hand installing it?" Terry asked. "I can help you out."

"No, that's all right, Terry. I'll handle it."

"Are you sure? That box is twice as big as you are," he pointed out. "No offense or anything. I'm handy. I can help."

"I'll help too," Chaud added, not wanting to be outdone.

"Well... I suppose a few extra pairs of hands wouldn't hurt," Nami agreed, smiling.

"Great! Let's get started!"

---

An Hour Later

"That wasn't so bad," Terry admitted.

"Is there some way to test it out?" Nami asked.

"Yeah, it says in the manual to press the yellow button for a test run," Chaud said, leafing through the instruction manual.

"Okay..." She pushed the button...

...and chaos ensued.

Bubbles shot out the BubbleWash, enclosing her in the bouncy clear bubbles.

"Nami!" Both boys panicked, confused and shocked. "Are you ok?"

"No!" she shouted, spitting out bubbles. Her voice was muffled by the enormous bubble she was trapped in. "I-It won't break!"

"This is insane!" Sen shouted. "We just got an email from some guy BubbleMan! It says:

'Dear Customer:

We hope you enjoy your new BubbleWash. When you turn it on, it will trap you in my unbreakable bubbles! My bubbles will turn from clear to yellow, then yellow to red, then red to KABOOM! Ha! Have a nice day!' Nice day! I think not!"

"This is SO bad!" Nami cried.

"We've gotta track this guy down and stop him," Terry said. "And from the sound of it, the sooner, the better!"

"I'll go after him, Terry, you stay here and see if you can break the bubbles. Warn me if they change colors!" Chaud told him.

"Good idea!" Terry agreed.

"Use my computer upstairs!" Nami added. "It should be running!"

"Ok! Hang in there, Nami!" Chaud raced up the stairs, jacking into her computer.

"Let's see... This guy obviously likes bubbles," ProtoMan said. "So... I'm guessing that would be our trail." Bubbles led to the edge of the road. "Man. This guy's just asking for it."

Following the soapy trail, ProtoMan found BubbleMan, a sad-looking little man with a water pack on his back.

"Blub, blub! My beautiful bubbles will explode anytime!"

"Hey, you!" ProtoMan shouted, drawing his sword. "You're under arrest!"

"Me? What for, blub?" BubbleMan asked innocently, turning around.

"You're endangering lives with your murderous BubbleWash!" ProtoMan snapped. "You trapped our best friend in your infernal bubbles! Release them ALL!"

"No! No! No! I WON'T! I only have ONE shot to prove myself to the World Three! I CAN'T blow it!" BubbleMan shouted, jumping up and down in rage.

"The World Three is in on this!" ProtoMan demanded.

"Not yet! They don't believe I can do anything!" BubbleMan pouted. "I'll show them! Blub!"

"Dissolve the bubbles, and I won't have to hurt you!"

"NO! Bubble Squad!" he called. Three tough-guy Navis appeared out of nowhere. "Get him!"

"Whoa... like, is that ProtoMan? We're not gonna, like, fight him... are we?" one of them asked. Clearly, their hoodlum nature was made up for in lack of brains. "We'll get smacked for sure!"

"JUST DO IT! BLUB!"

"All right, fine... whatever, boss..." The three Navis attacked, and within a matter of seconds, all three were deleted.

"No! How dare you delete my Bubble Squad!" BubbleMan seethed. "But you'll never get through THIS!" BubbleMan created a bubble door, barring the path. "Ha, blub! HA, I say! I laugh at you! You can't get through without a Needle!"

_Pop_.

"Apparently, swords work just as well," ProtoMan pointed out. "Correct me if I'm wrong."

"Huh, blub?" BubbleMan, who hadn't been paying attention, looked at the sudsy remains of the bubble door. "NO FAIR!"

"Chaud!" Terry's voice came from downstairs. "Chaud! The bubbles turned yellow!" he panicked. "Hurry up!"

"All right, we're working on it!" Chaud shouted back. "Huh? Dang it!"

BubbleMan had taken the opportunity to vanish, followed by a predictable trail of bubbles.

"I got it covered," ProtoMan said, dashing across the bubble trail, quickly catching up to BubbleMan.

"AAAH, BLUB!" BubbleMan tripped, and sent himself flying, creating a red bubble door. "HA! If you break THAT bubble door, you will make them ALL explode!"

"No!" ProtoMan skidded to a halt.

"HA! How will you stop me now, blub!"

"Chaud! The bubbles are red!" Terry shouted from downstairs. "We don't have much time!"

"Don't worry!" Chaud called back. "ProtoMan---" Realizing that any command of attack to break the bubble would result in death for thousands (including Nami), Chaud broke off. _What can I do?_

"Ha! You can't stop me now!"

"CHAUD! We have to do something!" ProtoMan shouted. "People are in danger!"

"I know! I'm thinking!"

"The bubbles are blinking!" Terry's voice called. "We're in trouble...!"

"They're going to explode!" BubbleMan giggled. "HA, blub! HAHA!"

"Make a decision, Chaud!" ProtoMan told him finally. It was now or never...


	7. The N1 Grand Prix

Chapter Seven:

The N1 Grand Prix

Finally, Chaud had an idea. "IceBall! _Freeze_ the bubble door!"

"What? NO!" BubbleMan started wigging out, totally freaked.

"Now! ProtoMan!"

"Proto Sword!" With one swipe, BubbleMan was gone, deleted as any other criminal would be.

"Yes! We did it!" Chaud breathed a sigh of relief.

"_You_ did it, Chaud. You saved them," ProtoMan said. "You thought of the IceBall. I was... hardly even thinking," ProtoMan admitted. "Good job."

"Thanks." Chaud descended the stairs to see Nami, still encased in a blinking bubble. "Oh, my God!"

"Freezing the bubble must've prevented it from dissolving," ProtoMan realized. "Oh, no!"

The blinking got faster. Finally... the bubble exploded.

"NO!" Chaud raced forward. The explosion was small and evidently less formidable that it would have been if it hadn't been frozen, nonetheless it was a fairly powerful explosion. "Nami!"

She lay against the kitchen door, her eyes closed.

"Nami..." Chaud knelt beside her as Terry rushed towards them. "Nami! Answer me! Please..."

"...ohh..." Nami slowly opened her eyes, confused. "Wh... what... happened?"

"I... the bubble exploded," Chaud told her sheepishly. "I---"

"---couldn't stop BubbleMan in time," Terry finished bitterly.

"No, I deleted him," Chaud protested.

"Then why did his bubble bombs explode!" Terry demanded.

"I'm not totally sure, but I didn't know deleting him wasn't enough!" Chaud and Terry both rose to their feet, each as angry as the other. "Why didn't you tell me the bubbles were still there!"

"How was I supposed to know you deleted BubbleMan?" Terry snapped. "Why'd you jack out if you weren't sure it worked!"

"What else was I supposed to DO!" Chaud shot back. "I couldn't have---"

"ENOUGH!" Nami had risen to her feet, leaning against the counter for support. "Look, I don't CARE what happened, I don't CARE if it's anyone's fault, as long as both of YOU are ok! But since you obviously aren't going to give me time to ASK you that since you're both ARGUING, I suppose it doesn't matter! Out! Both of you!"

"But, Nami..."

"Now!" she snapped.

Terry looked apologetic, but turned around even so and left.

Nami stumbled a little, Chaud made to help her.

"Chaud, please, just... get out," she said quickly, not looking at him.

"Nami..."

"Now!" she repeated sharply.

As Chaud left in a state of gloominess, Nami asked Sen, "WHY are boys so WEIRD...?"

"I don't know," Sen sighed. "You ok?"

"I'm fine... oh, why did they have to start fighting...?"

"No idea. I guess we're kinda lucky in that respect," Sen said.

"Meaning...?"

"I don't know, I just... feel like it could have been a lot worse."

---

The Next Week

"Well... it could have been worse," ProtoMan said, trying to cheer Chaud up. "At least she didn't get hurt..."

"Worse?" Chaud asked. "She kicked me out of her house! And she hasn't spoken to me all week!" he cried.

"If it makes you feel any better, she's not speaking to Terry either," ProtoMan said. "And Sen refuses to talk to me and SparkMan..."

"Sen refuses to talk to _everyone_."

"_Except_ me! And SparkMan sometimes..."

"How am I supposed to apologize if she won't listen to a word I say!"

"Hey, there's an email from the folks holding the tournament," ProtoMan said. "Apparently, since the zoo is in such bad shape, they can't hold the second preliminary, and they're just going to do a whole bunch of elimination rounds."

"Fine. When?"

"Hmm... today."

"WHAT!"

"We're not that far from the DNN TV Station, we can afford to take our time. Hmm... wonder how they're going to do the blocking... who cares. Let's go."

---

DNN TV Station

Once there, Chaud scanned the list of blocks. "Sixty-five people? Are they insane?"

"They canceled the second prelim because of the zoo thing," ProtoMan reminded him.

"Well, yeah..." He kept looking. He saw Nami's name in the C-block. "Wow. She's in it too?"

"Cool. That'd be fun, go against Sen..."

"Mamoru, Ailee, Raize, and Sean are in too... oh, no..."

Chaud found his name in the B-block along with Sean's... and Terry's.

"We're in the same unit," ProtoMan said in mild surprise.

"Great," Chaud said bitterly, "maybe if we beat him I'll feel better..."

"Same block members never face each other if they can avoid it," ProtoMan said resignedly. "Too bad. Beating SparkMan in front of a live audience and video cameras to humiliate him on a global scale would've been very fun."

"Hey, now, WHAT about me?" SparkMan's voice snapped a little ways behind them. "Wanna say that again, ProtoBoy?"

"Whoa, no need for that, Spark Plug," ProtoMan shot back. "Back off!"

"Make me!"

Chaud and Terry, however, remained silent. They glared at each other momentarily, then walked in separate directions. Chaud went to sit down on one of the benches, Terry to check the block listings. They had not been on speaking terms since the BubbleWash 'incident'.

"Blocks A and C! Please come to the recording room now!" a PA system announced.

Chaud saw Nami and Raize heading in to the studio. Hoping to talk to Nami, he laid a hand on her shoulder. "Nami---"

She refused to look at him, pulling away from him.

"She... wouldn't even... look at me..."

---

A half-hour passed. Chaud spent it being miserable, Terry spent it in a state of mild irritation. Finally, the PA speaker announced, "Blocks B and D! Please come to the recording room now!"

"The others must be finished," ProtoMan said. "Hope Nami and Sen did ok."

"Probably."

"Hey, Chaud!" It was Lan.

"Get lost, Lan," Chaud said automatically.

"I was _going_ to wish you luck against me, but if you're gonna be like that..." Lan left haughtily.

"He really thinks too highly of himself." Chaud followed the others into the studio.

"We have to wait here," ProtoMan said. "Listen for them to call us in."

"Welcome back to the N1 Grand Prix!" a man in a red cowboy hat announced. "For those of you who need a recap, we have these extra elimination rounds today because of the incident at the zoo not too long ago. Fortunately we have found a suitable replacement for the site: Hades Isle!"

"_That_ doesn't sound friendly..."

?Now, if the participants of B and D blocks would please come in!"

Thirty-two people filed into the room to thunderous applause.

"All right! now, here's how this is gonna work," the man said, turning to them. "I'm the N1 host, Sunayama. You guys are coming with me to Hades Isle. 'K? Let's go!"

---

"Here's the pier, if everyone could please board the ferry!" Sunayama said with a grin.

"Once on board, Chaud saw that four people had been assigned to each room, two from each block. He found his name with two of the worst possible roommates:

Lan H. Tora S.

Chaud B. Terry G.

The others were already there. Chaud ended up sitting next to Lan, across from Tora, and as far as was possible from Terry.

"What's going on between you and Terry?" Lan asked quietly.

"None of your business."

"Seriously, the whole school knows something's up," MegaMan added. "Roll said it had to do with Nami."

"So?"

"Did you guys fight or something?"

"Nami and I didn't fight."

"Not you and Nami," Lan said, "you and Terry. Did you guys fight over her or something?"

"Lan, would it really kill you to just shut up?" ProtoMan sighed.

"If it's really like that, then sure." Lan sat back, folding his arms.

Chaud was silent for a moment, then sighed again. "Ok, it's like this. Nami's sister had her waiting all day for a BubbleWash---"

"Those murderous dishwashers?"

"Yeah. So she got stuck in the bubbles, and I jacked into her computer to stop BubbleMan."

"So YOU deleted him?"

"Yeah."

"So what's the problem?" Lan asked. "Nothing happened, the bubbles disappeared."

Chaud frowned at him in shocked silence as the boat shoved off from the pier. "They did? Nami's didn't."

"Oh, my God!"

"Right. So hers exploded and Terry and I got in a fight over why..."

"And you're still not speaking to each other?" MegaMan asked.

"Yep."

"Well, that's a stupid reason to fight," Lan said. "I mean, who cares? She didn't get hurt or anything."

"That's sort of what Nami said," ProtoMan told him. "She said she didn't care if it w as anyone's fault, as long as..."

"...we were both ok," Chaud finished. "Then she kicked us out since we were arguing."

Lan sat in silence for a moment, then shook his head.

"Y'know, girls are kinda weird, especially when you put it like that."

"Yeah..."

"Hello? Has everyone boarded the ferry?" Sunayama's disembodied voice asked. "Ok? Good! Sunayama speaking, everyone! Now, as you all set off, I must warn you: We cannot let you know where Hades Isle is, SO... we'll have to put you to sleep!"

"What?" A faintly colored gas oozed under the door. "Whoa!"

"HEY! I don't care if this is for TV, it ain't kosher!" Tora shouted. Slowly but surely, all the passengers on the ferry fell asleep.


	8. Danger Zone

Chapter Eight:

Danger Zone

"Huh... whoa..." Chaud slowly woke up from his sleep. "Where are we...?"

"Rise and shine, my friends!" Sunayama's voice called to them. "From here on, my voice will be your guide! Please disembark the ferry!"

Choosing to leave Lan, Tora, and particularly Terry snoozing contentedly on the cabin floor, Chaud left, seeing a small strip of sand and the ocean. They were on an island.

"Good! Mostly all here... ah! There we are!" Terry, Lan, Tora, and a black-haired girl ran off the boat. "Ok! Now we're all here. Participants please enter... the Demon's Maw!"

A great stone door opened to their left in the big wall of rock. "B-block proceed left, D-block to the right!" Chaud entered, taking the left passage as instructed. A special tournament computer with sixteen ports and screens sat in the middle of an empty room.

"Everyone, please jack into one of the ports! There are eight pieces of Victory Data hidden there. If you find one, you go on! If not... you will be meeting Hades today."

"Lord. Let's just start!" a tall man barked impatiently.

"Very well. Go to it, everyone."

To Chaud's bewilderment, the Victory Data were clearly marked and easy to find. ProtoMan picked up the data just in time, Sunayama's voice shouted, "Enough! Stop and jack out!"

Chaud looked around, some people had obviously not found the data, others obviously had. His eyes met Terry's for a moment. He couldn't tell whether or not he had found the data, however Sean was too nervous for words.

"All right, now. Here are your victors!" Eight people suddenly dropped through the floor. Much to Chaud's disappointment, Sean was one of them. On top of that, Terry wasn't. "Halfway down, now! The remaining eight of you please go up the stairs to meet your next challenge!"

Sixteen other people waited in the room beyond, the remaining members of the A and C blocks. Nami, Raize, Mamoru, and Ailee had all made it through. Mamoru tapped Nami's shoulder, pointing out that Sean hadn't made it through.

"Now! You will all face another battler of a different block!" Sunayama announced. "Look up to see you first elimination match opponent!"

"So. All we have to do is beat whoever we have to, and we'll advance," ProtoMan confirmed. "Sounds easy enough."

The screen held all the names, and everyone made their way to different battle stations. Chaud saw his appointed opponent was Mamoru.

"This oughta be interesting."

---

Once all the battles had played out, Sunayama called "STOP! That will be all! And your winners are, beginning from the far left!"

In the left were Raize and a girl named Natalie. Their names were projected over the station, and Natalie's name disappeared as she fell through the floor.

This continued for a while. Chaud had won over Mamoru, who also dropped through the floor when his time came. Coon after was Ailee, who won her battle over a boy named Calvin. Now, Terry had beaten a man called Goh. Now... Nami's match.

Her name and the name Viddy Narcy projected over the crowd. Viddy's name disappeared as he fell through the floor.

"Now! Final elimination round!" Sunayama's voice said. "Behold the screen! Again!"

Half-hoping he would go against Nami, Chaud saw he was indeed going against a Hallissy girl. Just the wrong one. Ailee and Chaud were the next match.

---

The battles played out until Sunayama stopped them. The same name-projection happened, and Chaud saw that Nami had come out triumphant, as had Raize, Terry, and Lan. Ailee had lost, and dropped through the floor.

"Now, here we have the eight quarterfinalists! Will those of you still standing please board the ferry back to the TV station!"

Hoping against hope that Nami wouldn't be cross with him for defeating three of her siblings, Chaud boarded the ferry along with the others.

They didn't have to be knocked out this time, and there was no assigned seating. Chaud stayed in a room alone, no wanting another conversation with Lan. Instead, he listened to Nami and Raize in the room next to him.

"Wow! I never expected to get this far!" Raize was saying.

"They why did you enter the tournament?" Nami asked.

"Huh?"

"Why do you enter a tournament without intent to win?" she asked him.

"Um... for laughs? I don't know. I just thought it'd be fun," Raize said. "But hey. At this point, we KNOW one of us will win! Hallissy victory!"

"I'm not so sure," Nami said.

"What? The great Nami is worried?" Raize teased.

"No. If I'm worried about anyone, it's that Q guy. Remember, from your block?"

"That creepy guy dressed like a gothic clown?"

"That's him... or her. Age, gender, nationality unknown... You know, he doesn't strike me as the type to enter a tournament 'for fun', or even just to win. I think he's—she's?—really after something."

"Like what? TV cameras?"

"I don't know... who does. But still."

"I think you're right," Raize said. "He knew right where the Victory Data was, or at least, he found it really fast."

"Hm. He sounds like trouble."

"He certainly doesn't sound nice," Raize sighed. "But don't worry. We'll toast him!"

"Yeah, definitely!" Torch put in. "Hey. You're not worried about Lan and MegaMan? Terry and SparkMan? Chaud and ProtoMan? Come on, they're good."

"They're in my class, for crying out loud."

"Actually, a lot of the quarterfinalists _are_ your age," Raize pointed out. "Man... now I feel _old_... anyway, answer the question!"

"What is this, a game show?" Nami laughed. "Well... they're good. Obviously, we're all pretty good to have gotten this far."

"Duh," Raize said. "Shame about Mamoru, Ailee, and Sean though."

"Sean couldn't even make the first elimination round," Nami sighed. "That kinda worries me."

"Me too. You'd think he'd know how to find that kind of thing. He's always looking for it when he's working at the café."

"True."

"But Mamoru AND Ailee both lost to Chaud," Raize said. "Aren't you worried?"

"Are YOU?" she shot back. "I don't know."

"What's going on with you two lately?" Raize asked. "You two still friends?"

Nami was silent for a moment. Chaud listened intently. _Were_ they still friends, in her eyes?"

"I really don't know... hey, Raize?"

"Yeah?"

"Why are boys so strange?"

Raize was silent for a moment as well. "And you're asking me this because...?"

"I want to know. Why else?"

"Well... hm. Define strange."

"As in dictionary?"

"As in how he's acting."

Nami was quiet, thinking. "He's... I don't know... well, he and Terry started fighting after..."

"...the BubbleWash thing?"

"Yeah."

"Huh. Y'know what I honestly think?"

"What?" Nami asked.

"Don't get mad or anything, but... I think Terry likes you. Not so much Chaud, but definitely Terry."

"Then why did they start fighting?" Nami asked, confused.

Raize sighed. "Maybe... I don't know... I'd say trying to get attention, but I don't think that's it. I guess they were just both being protective of you. You should feel lucky."

Nami laughed softly. "Guess so, huh."

"You still haven't answered my question!" Torch said impatiently. "Enough about boys!"

Nami and Raize both laughed.

"Well, I'll give Lan and MegaMan credit. They're not a bad team. Terry and SparkMan shouldn't be TOO hard."

"So you're saying they're pushovers?"

"No, I'm saying they're not a major threat," Nami said.

"And what about Chaud and ProtoMan?"

"They're Officials. I guess Q and Chaud are the only _real _challenges left," Nami said.

"That's ALL you're worried about?" Raize asked.

"Yeah. Why, are YOU worried, toaster boy?" Raize laughed at that.

"Man, you're in trouble now!"

---

DNN TV Station

"Here are your quarterfinalists!" Sunayama announced to the crowd, the eight quarterfinalists standing behind him in a line.

Booming applause rang through the hall as Sunayama read off each of their names.

"And with that, we proceed to the quarterfinal match!"

---

"I can't believe I lost!" Raize gasped, having lost to Chaud. "I'm sorry, Nami, it's all yours now," he told her before being sent offstage.

"Relax. I'll win," she said, smiling.

"You'd better!"

"I'll get you back for this, Nami!" Lan shouted in mock anger. "But... good luck. You deserve it."

"Thanks, Lan. I appreciate that." They shook hands, and Lan walked offstage.

Terry had emerged victorious over Tora, and the Q character had beaten the other quarterfinalist Tetsu.

"You see before you the four best battlers thus far! The semifinalists!" Sunayama announced to roaring cheers. "We'll be right back!" The cameras turned off as he turned to the four of them. "We're going to take a quick break, so go outside and get a little rest, ok?"

"That was a great match," Sen said. "Way to go, Nami!"

"Thanks. Good job on your part, too," Nami said. "Wonder what happened to Raize and the others...?"

"They'll be fine. They're brave. If they're really meeting Hades, I'm sure they'll manage."

They both laughed, heading outside.

"Oof!" Nami had accidentally bumped into Q. "S-Sorry..."

"Heh, heh... shrimp..."

"Hey!" Nami was easily head and shoulders smaller than Q was. "Size is no guarantee of power!"

"Weakling."

"We'll make you eat those words!" Sen snapped.

---

"Semifinalists! Please return to the recording room!"

"Ok, listen up. Terry and Nami will face each other first, the Q and Chaud right after, ok?"

"All right," Terry and Nami agreed.

"Q, Chaud, wait just offstage and be ready to battle!" the man in the editing room told them through the PA.

"Where's Sunayama?" Nami asked.

"He's busy. But we'll get all this up and running!"

A bell rang somewhere. "Quick! Chaud, Q, off! Nami, Terry, the stage is yours!"

---

"Nami is the winner!" Roaring applause and a few wolf whistles cheered her on.

"Nami... I'm sorry," Terry said softly. "I didn't mean anything... about the BubbleWash thing... I'm sorry I gave you a reason to be mad."

"It's ok," Nami told him.

"So... we're cool?" Terry asked hopefully.

"Wanna build a snowman?" She smiled.

Terry laughed at her atypical response. "I'm glad." He took her hands, pulling her towards him in a tight embrace.

Chaud saw this and felt his mind go blank. He barely registered the fact that Nami was smiling. Laughing. Throwing her arms around him.

"Chaud? Whoa... you ok?" ProtoMan asked as Chaud felt his knees hit the floor. "What's wrong!" he asked, shocked and alarmed.

"N-Nami... and Terry..."

"WHAT?" ProtoMan looked, and saw Nami and Terry onstage. "Oh, my God..." Hoping this was just a trick of the light, he looked up at Chaud. His eyes were still blank, not seeing.

_Why do I feel like this?_ Chaud asked himself. _Because... because she's my best friend, right... she's not speaking to me... or LOOKING at me... but she's still my best friend... and I want to protect her... from HIM..._

But in his heart he knew that wasn't REALLY why.

Suddenly, a scream pierced his daze. Nami had somehow fallen through a trapdoor, no doubt used for some other show produced at DNN.

"Hey! If anyone should have fallen at all, it shoulda been me!" Terry shouted. "_I_ lost!"

"Uh, we're gonna take a quick break!" the man in the editing room shouted. "We'll, uh, be _right_ back!"

---

"We're back! Minor technical difficulty, but it's all fixed now!" the man announced. "Now, to recap, Nami has defeated Terry. This next semifinal match will determine who will face her in the finals: Chaud or Q!"

However, twenty minutes into the battle, no victor had yet been decided.

"You're not bad," ProtoMan said. "For a commercial model, at least."

"You're not half bad yourself," the mass-produced green Normal Navi agreed. "But. There's not much I can do to you in THIS form!"

"Huh...?" The Normal Navi suddenly filled the stadium with light.

When the light died, the Darkloid DesertMan stood in the Navi's place.

"Darkloid!" the audience exclaimed in a universal state of shock.

"But then... Q..."

"It's me!" Q tore off his mask and costume. "Sunayama!" Sunayama laughed. "I see I'll need more... _leverage_... to defeat you, Chaud Blaze!"

The lights went out. When they were turned back on, Sunayama was gone. "Come to the editing room, and come _alone!_"

---

Chaud mounted the steps with a cautious air. What had Sunayama meant by 'leverage'?

He opened the door to the editing room. It automatically closed and locked behind him. Facing him was Sunayama, looking him straight in the eye, a sort of demented smile on his face. Chaud didn't dare look away.

"Chaud Blaze. Electopia's best Official. Heir to the BlazeQuest fortune and company. Operator of ProtoMan, the most well-customized and programmed Navi on the continent."

"What do you want?" Chaud asked brusquely.

"I think you'll change your tone when you see who else is here."

Chaud remained silent. What was he talking about? "I came alone," Chaud pointed out.

"Oh, you did. Very good. But, you see... _I_ didn't." Sunayama moved aside, revealing a small figure sitting on the floor.

"Nami!" She was bound at the wrists and ankles, and her face was cut in various places.

"Hm. I guessed right," Sunayama said. "So then. We'll make a deal."

"What?" Chaud snapped.

"I'll release the girl... for your PET."


	9. Disaster 3

Chapter Nine:

Disaster 3

"Chaud. Give him the PET," ProtoMan said without hesitation. "Don't even think about this."

"ProtoMan... Nami..." He looked at Nami. Her eyes met his for a fraction of a second. She shook her head in the tiniest, most inconspicuous way possible. But nothing was to escape Sunayama.

"_Don't_ you say a word!" Sunayama struck her across the face; she fell to the floor, and moved no more. (About now, the audience below began to realize that this wasn't a show, and that something really _was _wrong.)

"STOP!" Chaud shouted. "Don't hurt her!"

"Then hand it over, boy!"

"I'm sorry, ProtoMan," Chaud said sadly.

"Ha! I've won more than a TetraCode today, Lord Wily!" Sunayama shouted triumphantly, taking the PET.

Chaud watched him carefully for a moment, then ran to the motionless girl on the floor. He knelt beside her, lifting her shoulders as he had in March, nearly three months ago.

"Nami... please wake up..."

Her eyes didn't open, but words escaped her lips.

"Chaud... why did you give him ProtoMan...?"

"I didn't have a choice," Chaud said softly. "I... I couldn't let him hurt you..."

She shook her head.

"You misunderstand... he didn't say to give him ProtoMan's program... you could've... taken ProtoMan out of the PET, and just given him... an empty shell..."

Now that she said it, it seemed so... obvious.

"Nami... I... I'm sorry..." His grip on her shoulders tightened. "He would have killed you..."

Nami shook her head again... her motions finally ceased.

"SparkMan! Attack!" Suddenly, Sunayama was on the ground, Chaud's red PET flying across the room. Terry caught it, having thrown SparkMan's PET case to distract Sunayama.

"T-Terry!" Chaud looked from Sunayama to Terry and back, but couldn't quite understand what had happened.

"You might want this," Terry said, tossing him the PET before Sunayama had time to recover. "Let's get out of here."

"Not yet." Chaud pressed a button on his PET, one thing he would never forget to do in times like this. Within moments, local Officials had the building surrounded.

---

After the scare at the TV station, the N1 was canceled since one of the finalists was hospitalized for injury courtesy of Sunayama, giving Chaud (and the rest of the world) all the more reason to hate him.

Somehow, Chaud had managed to convince himself that since Nami had forgiven Terry for the BubbleWash incident, she would forgive him. But was it really true...?

Chaud lay in bed, awake, thinking. What could happen, right? All he had to do was ask her if everything was all right between them...

_That'd be an interesting conversation_, Chaud thought, burying his face in his pillow. Even in his head he couldn't think of the right words to say to an imaginary Nami in his own room.

_I'm never going to get over this..._ What had happened at the N1, for some reason, Chaud felt was his fault. _If it wasn't for me..._

"It wasn't your fault, Chaud." Chaud looked around. ProtoMan had spoken. "No matter what you may think."

"He was using her," Chaud said. "Using her... to get a shot at you."

"Not me," ProtoMan said. "You."

"So you agree with me."

"No! Of course not!"

"If the two of us weren't so close before... he wouldn't have gotten the idea to use her..."

"You're forgetting. He'd never _seen_ Nami before, remember? And she refused to talk to you all through the tournament," ProtoMan pointed out. "Unless he'd been spying on you since March, I doubt that he would've known beforehand. And after all, he said he'd 'guessed right' when you reacted like that when you saw Nami."

This was true. Chaud felt that was the one thing that really had made a difference. What if he'd pretended not to know her?

Not to know Nami...? Purposely forgetting the girl he'd walked home with since March? Since he'd saved her from FlashMan? The one real-world person he'd ever allowed himself to connect with? His only friend? Not to know her would be to not know himself.

"But still..." Chaud sat bolt upright, realizing something. "That thing! At the zoo!"

"What thing?" ProtoMan asked, confused.

"I saw something red in the bushes, before we followed Nami and Terry to the inn," Chaud explained quickly. "That must've been Sunayama's hat!"

"Hm. Maybe."

"That'd explain how he knew we were friends!"

"Well..." ProtoMan tried to think of a reply, thought of none, and so clammed up.

"I knew it... something had to be going on... I knew it..."

"You know, Raize was right," ProtoMan said.

"About what?"

"You're _really_ protective of her," he pointed out. "You're making a big deal out of this. Don't get me wrong, it IS something big, but..."

"I'm confused."

"You're making an even bigger deal out of something you shouldn't."

"Huh...?"

"Go to sleep."

"..." Chaud fell asleep three hours later, still trying to figure out what ProtoMan had meant.

---

"Nami! You have a visitor!" the nurse said.

"Thank you, nurse," Nami said. The nurse left as Mamoru came in.

"Hey, Nami."

"Hey... where's everyone else?" she asked as Mamoru closed the privacy curtains around her bed.

"Raize and Ailee have to work overtime since they took time off for the N1."

"And Sean?"

"Organizing sophomore rally."

"What about you? Don't you have to work?"

"Yeah," Mamoru admitted. "Just not right now."

Nami laughed, Mamoru remained silent. "Is something wrong?" she asked him.

"Look, I need to talk to you."

"What about?" Nami asked.

"Chaud."

"Yeah...?"

"I'm not sure if I want him around you anymore," Mamoru said simply. "I don't think I'd be comfortable with him seeing you."

"You make it sound like we're dating."

"I know, I know," Mamoru sighed, "but there's really no other way to put it. I don't want him to get you hurt!"

"You know as well as I do that Chaud would never hurt me," she said.

"Provided, he never finds out what happened before we came here," Mamoru said in an undertone. "But don't worry. He'll never find out about that."

Nami was silent. "I'd prefer to forget about all that," she said quietly.

"Of course," Mamoru said softly. "But... I mean... that thing at the N1—"

"—wasn't his fault," Nami finished.

"And I'm not saying it was," Mamoru said quickly. "I'm just saying. That creep Sunayama was using you to get at him. Because you're friends. And he knew he could use you, and not have to worry about being wrong."

"Because we're friends," Nami sighed. "But that's just it, Mamoru. We're friends. That's it."

"I'm not saying you're not friends," Mamoru added. "I just want you to be careful. Look, being friends with him may or may not be a good thing. He's an Official, which means people respect him."

"But...?"

"He's a _good_ Official."

"Which means what?"

"People are going to be after him more than any other Official, unless I'm much mistaken," Mamoru finally. "By being friends with him, you're putting yourself in danger with him."

"So? Like we haven't been in danger before?"

"Not like this, Nami," Mamoru sighed. "Not like this. We came here because we couldn't go home. And believe me, this is one of the most unsafe places on the planet nowadays. Everything Dr. Wily plans appears to happen here."

"Then why didn't we go home!" Nami demanded.

"Because—you very well know why we couldn't go home," Mamoru pointed out. "We can never go home. Ever."

---

"Chaud! Nami's gone!" the nurse said frantically. "Please, find her!"

"Don't worry," Chaud said, "she'll be fine, I'll find her."

Nami stood on the beach until she heard footsteps. She turned to see him coming towards her.

"Nami! There you are, everyone's worried about," Chaud told her. She ignored him, turning away.

"...Go away."

"Nami! You can't STILL be mad about the BubbleWash thing!"

"And why not!" she snapped. "Give me one good reason."

"You forgave Terry," Chaud reminded her. "You forgave him, why not me?"

"It's easier to stay angry at someone you trust."

Chaud looked out at the setting sun over the watery horizon. "Beautiful... isn't it."

"Shut up." She looked at him. "You don't seriously think you can influence me, do you? You can't."

"Don't I?" Chaud laid his hands on her shoulders. She didn't pull away, at least, not immediately.

"No," Nami said firmly. "Nothing you can do will make a difference."

Smiling, Chaud pulled her toward him.

Their lips met in the brief moment before the sun began to dip below the horizon. A voice called for him, but he paid no mind.

When he broke away from her, she stared at him in harsh shock.

"See?" she said defiantly. "Nothing. Nothing at all."

"I hate to say it, but that did absolutely NOTHING for me either," Chaud said firmly.

"No surprise," Nami snapped, turning around so that she had her back to him. "I mean, if that's all you can think to do..." She flipped her hair so that it brushed his cheek, then started walking away.

"All? You seriously want to see everything I can do?" he asked her, winding his arms around her waist from behind her. She stopped moving, standing still.

"Maybe I would," she said softly, placing her hands on his.

He turned her around, and kissed her again. She moved just that much closer...

"Chaud... I—"

The voice called again, cutting her off.

"CHAUD! C'mon, wake up, or I'll call the police for an autopsy!" ProtoMan yelled, finally waking Chaud from his dream.


	10. Realizations and Truth

Chapter Ten:

Realizations and Truth

7:36 AM

"Ohh... ProtoMan! Why'd you have to wake me up NOW?" Chaud demanded, looking at the clock. He groaned, pulling the covers over his head, trying to go back to sleep. "I was having a dream..."

"Dang it, Chaud! I've been trying to get you up for half an hour! What dream could POSSIBLY keep you asleep for THAT long?"

Chaud finally sat up, giving up trying to go back to sleep, bleary-eyed and annoyed.

"I had a dream that Nami had gone missing, and when I found her she was still ignoring me, and..."

"And what?" ProtoMan asked. "She threw something at you?" he laughed.

"NO! No..."

"What, then?" ProtoMan pressed.

"I kissed her."

"WHOA! HEY! This dream was about YOU and Nami, right?" ProtoMan demanded. "You're sure?"

"Positive," Chaud replied, somewhat shocked at ProtoMan's reaction. "I kissed her twice."

"TWICE!"

"Yes, twice! She was going to tell me something more, but you woke me up before I could hear it..."

"My god. Maybe Raize was wrong." Chaud was clearly not listening, he was still thinking about his dream. "CHAUD!"

"What?"

"You're not listening!"

"Well, I am now!" Chaud pointed out.

"There's something that Raize may have been wrong about..."

"Just tell me, ProtoMan."

"All right... I think you fell in love with her."

Chaud closed his eyes for a moment, thinking. "Huh... you... you're right." He fell back against his bed. "That's it, isn't it?" he asked. "I love her." Even as he said the words, they sounded foreign in his voice. "I LOVE her," he repeated. "That's why I felt strange when Terry took her hand and led her to the inn... and why I shut down when he hugged her! And why I'm so miserable now because she won't talk to me!"

By now Chaud was so excited that he sprang out of bed, pacing his room.

"I LOVE her! I suppose Terry does too, but he doesn't matter, does he...? I love her..." Chaud smiled, tilting his head back to stare at his ceiling fan spinning around and around.

"I'm amazed this is an entirely new concept to you," ProtoMan said wryly. "You're almost in high school, and you've never had a crush before... wow. One would think you'd've realized it before now."

Chaud was no longer pacing, but pulling on clothes, getting ready to go to the hospital and talk to Nami.

"But wait a minute..." Halfway through tying his shoes, he realized... she still wasn't speaking to him. The few moments she had been conscious in the editing room obviously didn't count. He hadn't seen her since.

"Why has everything suddenly been put on pause?" ProtoMan asked. "By now I thought you'd be running down to the beach hospital."

"But she's still not talking to me," Chaud said miserably.

"Hold that thought," ProtoMan said, realizing there was something in their inbox. "Email from her and Sen."

"What's it say!"

"It says they want to talk to us," ProtoMan said in amazement. "Wow... I guess ours isn't the only incredible timing..."

Chaud finished tying his shoes and raced out the door upon hearing the email.

"Hey! HEY! Forgetting something!" ProtoMan yelled from Chaud's desk.

"Sorry!" Chaud ran back into the room, grabbed his PET, then dashed outside again.

"Chaud! They stumble that run fast!" ProtoMan told him. "Be careful!"

"I don't care if I fall!" Chaud said joyfully, leaping over a hedge. "Stop quoting Romeo and Juliet!"

"That's not what I meant! I meant that you're rushing into this!"

Chaud stopped at a busy intersection, waiting impatiently for the light to change so he could race across. "What do you mean, rushing into this? Rushing into what?"

"Other than the street?"

"Obviously."

"Rushing into something you might not be ready for. And she might not be ready either," ProtoMan said rationally. "She's in the hospital, Chaud. She might not be willing to accept something like this."

"Oh... so... what're you saying?"

"I'm saying think about this. Don't rush headlong into something you don't know everything about."

"Hmm... I guess you're right."

The light finally changed, and Chaud ran across, still eager to speak to her.

---

7:24 AM

"Sen, what am I supposed to say to him?" Nami asked after Sen had sent Chaud and ProtoMan. "I don't know..."

"Don't worry," Sen reassured her. "You always know what to say when you need to say it. It's one of your better aspects."

Nami frowned. "Thanks... I think." Nami tried to stand up, and ended up falling back into bed.

"Just a suggestion," Sen said, "but I'd stay sitting down..."

"Again, thanks." Nami pulled the thin blankets up to her waist, crossing her legs. The beach was warm enough so that the hospital didn't need heavy blankets or a heating system to keep patients warm enough.

"Why don't you just do something else?" Sen suggested. "Get your mind off of him...?"

"What's there to do?" Nami asked, bored. "It's a hospital."

"Well, there's always..." Sen trailed off, at a loss for things to do.

"_God_, I hate hospitals." Nami looked around, seeing a pencil and a small pad of paper lying on the table next to her. She picked them up, and started drawing at random. A circle, a cone-shape... "Why do you think Mamoru doesn't want me to speak to him?" Shading here and there, a little less there...

"He didn't say you couldn't speak to him," Sen said. "He just doesn't want you to be with him every waking moment."

"Like I ever have been?"

"The zoo comes pretty close to that."

"Does not," Nami protested, erasing a piece of what she had been doing. She drew two ovals, then a point... "We were in separate rooms all night." A line here, a curve or two...

"You're sure you're just friends?" Sen asked cautiously.

"What do you mean?"

"I mean... you don't think he likes you? I mean, as... more than a friend?"

"What makes you think that?" Nami asked.

"You didn't see him after your little thing with Terry onstage," Sen said dryly.

"What? Did something happen?"

"Something? He hit the floor!" Nami's pencil stopped.

"Hit the floor?"

"Yeah. He was totally shocked."

"And you never told me?"

"I didn't think it was that important," Sen said guiltily.

"Really?"

"... Okay, yeah I did," Sen confessed. "I just didn't want you to worry about him."

"Me, worry? About Chaud?" Nami asked, turning her drawing to the side so that she could focus on one part. "I don't think those statements connect."

"Really?" Sen asked. She was silent for a moment.

"What?" Nami asked.

"You're drawing pretty well," Sen said slyly.

"Huh?" Nami, who had not been paying attention to what her hands had been doing, noticed that a fairly well-drawn picture of Chaud lay on her lap.

"Maybe your hands are speaking for your heart," Sen said quietly.

"Look, I do NOT like him!" Nami insisted, tearing the sheet of paper off the pad, planning to throw it away.

Sen looked at her, eyebrows raised. Nami looked at Sen, then back at the picture, biting her lip.

"Is it really obvious?" she asked sheepishly, deciding not to throw the picture away.

"Define obvious," Sen said with a laugh. "You're his first and only friend apart from me and ProtoMan, you see him on an almost daily basis, and you drew him and didn't know it! I'd say it kinda sticks out!"

Nami blushed. "Do you think he knows?"

"He's a guy. Chances are, probably not. That is, unless those monkeys in cage twelve said something to him."

Nami laughed as the nurse came in. "Nami, you have another visitor."

"Thank you." _It must be Sean_, Nami thought, adding a few lines to her drawing.

---

7:48 AM

"What should I say to her?" Chaud asked himself, crossing the lobby to the elevator. "I mean... how am I supposed to tell her...?"

"Good question," ProtoMan said simply.

"Well, _that's_ helpful."

"If _you_ don't know, then it's highly doubtful that _I'd_ know," ProtoMan said as the elevator came down smoothly.

"Third floor right?"

"Yeah..."

The ride in the elevator was quiet. Chaud was thinking quickly, each moment bringing him closer to the time when he'd have to face Nami with the truth.

Finally, the elevator doors opened.

Looking at the nameplate on the doors, Chaud finally found Hallissy, Namirra in the room by the Tree of Life, the symbol of the hospital.

The Tree of Life was monitored by a growth system somewhere in the basement of the hospital. The growth system prevented it from ever losing leaves or wilting. Actually, it was quite an amazing thing. Whenever the hospital added a new floor, the Tree of Life would, within the next few months, grow up to reach the new height.

He knocked on the door. It opened, not by Nami, but by Sean.

"Hey, Chaud," Sean said, grinning.

"Hey, Sean." Sean left the room, and Chaud entered instead.

"...don't listen to Sean," Sen was saying. "He doesn't really know what happened to you."

"I know," Nami sighed. "I know... but still. You'd think someone would tell him."

"Nami?" Chaud was halfway across the room, coming closer. "It's me."

"Oh! Hi!" Nami said, quickly hiding her drawing underneath her blankets, holding it tightly in her hand.

"How are feeling?" Chaud asked.

"Fine, fine..." Both were silent for a moment, not looking at each other.

"You said you wanted to talk to us? Me and ProtoMan?" Chaud prompted her at last.

"Oh... yes, that..." Regaining her composure, Nami looked him in the eye for the first time since the BubbleWash incident. "I know it's been a kind of... _weird_... week, and I want this to be settled."

"Ok," Chaud said. "So... what is it?"

Nami took a deep breath. "There's really not much left of this... _event_," she said. "All that's left is for you and Terry to forgive each other."

He remained silent for a moment, unsure of whether or not he had heard correctly. "Terry?"

"Yes Chaud. Terry,"

"Wh-What for?" Chaud asked, utterly shocked. "He baited me!"

"And you took the bait," Nami countered. "I know it's probably not the way you had in mind, but that's all that's left to do. I forgave him. And you. The least you can do is make things right with him."

"When did you forgive me?" Chaud asked.

"In case you haven't noticed, Chaud, I AM TALKING TO YOU."

"Oh... right."

"Please, think about it, Chaud," she said. "At the very least."

"Oh... all right. Fine. I'll think about it," Chaud told her.

"Good. Thank you, Chaud." She smiled at him. _God, I missed seeing that smile..._

"Listen, Nami... I want to... tell you something," Chaud said, dropping his voice.

"Yes? I'm listening."

"Well... I—" A knock at the door interrupted him.

"Nami!" It was Raize at the worst possible moment. "Nami, it's Raize!"

"I can hear you," Nami sighed. "Hang on a sec, ok?" She leaned closer to Chaud. "What is it?"

"I... oh... I'll... tell you later," he said quietly. "So... um... I'll talk to you later..."

Chaud got up and left, feeling worse than ever. Forgive Terry? Was that possible?

"What was that about, Nami?" Raize asked once the door had shut behind Chaud.

"Nothing," Nami lied quickly, looking away. "Chaud just came to visit—"

"I know that look," Raize said, pulling back the sheets. Her drawing of Chaud was still in her hand, a little crumpled in her haste to get it out of Chaud's sight, but still intact.

Raize looked at the picture in shock. "Nami..."

Nami looked at him, bright red in the cheeks. Finally, Raize laughed.

"I KNEW it! I KNEW you liked him!" Raize finally said.

"You did?" Nami asked, feeling apprehensive.

"Well, ok, I didn't KNOW, but I had a shrewd idea," Raize admitted. "But I was right."

"True... yeah..."

"Why didn't you tell anyone?" Raize asked.

Nami looked down at the picture. "Mamoru doesn't want me seeing him," she said softly.

"And why on earth not?"

"He says it's too dangerous," she told him.

"Too dangerous? If being around an Official is dangerous, then a job as a pillow salesman is harmful," Raize said.

"That was a terrible analogy."

"I know. But still. Forget about what Mamoru said," Raize told her. "Just do what you think is right. And it looks to me like Chaud is right for you."

Chaud smiled, having stopped to tie his shoes at the door, and having listened to the whole conversation.


	11. Disaster 4

Chapter Eleven:

Disaster 4

Suddenly, all was dead silent.

"N-Nami? NAMI!" Raize's voice shouted from inside. "Nami! Wake up! Look, if this is a joke, it's NOT funny!"

"What's going on?" a nurse asked.

"I-I can't wake her up!" Raize gasped. "She was fine a minute ago, but she just... oh, god..."

"Oh, no, no, NO, this isn't good!" The nurse came rushing out of the room, absolutely terrified. She ran after a passing doctor, and explained what was going on in doctoral terms that no one but them could understand.

"What! No..." The doctor dashed into the room as Raize came out, looking horrorstruck.

"Raize! What happened?" Chaud asked immediately.

"Wha...?" Raize looked around, seeing Chaud there. "Why are you still here?"

"I... had to tie my shoes," Chaud said sheepishly.

"Whatever... Nami..." He shook his head, looking worried. "I feel like it's my fault... she's passed out for no reason."

"Oh, god..."

---

"Chaud, we should probably go now."

"No."

"C'mon, we've been here for hours," ProtoMan agreed. "Let's go."

"No."

"It's past noon, you probably need something to eat."

"I'm not hungry."

Silently, Chaud promised to forgive Terry if Nami came out ok. If she came out at all.

Hours ago, an emergency operation had begun to try to save Nami. Chaud had been pacing around in front of the operating room, too anxious for words.

"You know, I'm worried about her too," ProtoMan said. "She's Raize's sister, for crying out loud. _He_ went home..."

"Because he had to tell the others."

"Still. Chaud, let's at least just go outside and get some fresh air," ProtoMan suggested half-pleadingly. "Just for two minutes..."

"What's wrong with _one_ minute?"

"Nothing, it's just not enough..."

"No..."

"She'll never forgive you if you just stay here." Chaud looked up; it was the rest of the Hallissys. Mamoru had spoken, looking grave. "Believe me, I would know."

"Go outside," Ailee told him. "We'll stay here. Just in case."

"Okay..." Chaud left, still feeling terrible.

"She'll be fine," ProtoMan assured him. "She's strong. She'll be ok."

"Yeah..." Chaud sat down on a bench, staring at the sand. _At least, I HOPE she's all right... what am I gonna do if she doesn't make it?..._

He sat there, lost in thought for a while, until Raize came bolting out of the building, holding something in his hand.

"Raize! What's going on?" Chaud asked, alarmed.

"Look!" Raize pointed towards the hospital. There were vines crashing through windows, growing beyond the boundaries of the hospital walls. "Those vines are going to stop everything in the hospital!"

"But... Nami's operation—"

"—would have to stop!" Raize looked around frantically for something, as though he were hoping the answer to their problem would appear out of thin air. "The doctors are trying to finish before the equipment stops working, but... oh, we've gotta DO something! Do you know where the basement is?"

"Huh... down here, I think, but it's locked..."

"The nurse gave me a key," Raize explained hurriedly, following Chaud down the ramp. "We've gotta stop the Tree of Life's growth system, and fast!"

Once through the door, they immediately saw that this was no small mechanical error. Vines and leaves were everywhere, sparks flew from the fuse box where cords had been cut, the emergency shutoff didn't even work.

"We're in trouble..."

"Maybe not." Raize was studying the wreckage, brow furrowed. "I think... hm... this seems familiar. Almost..." He shook his head. "Torch, jack in."

"What am I supposed to do?" Torch demanded. "Burn everything!"

"That's a good start."

"Fine..."

"You jack in too, ProtoMan," Chaud said. "Try and help any way you can."

"I'm on it."

Even inside the computer, all was chaos. Overrun by viruses, digivines, and panicking programs, it took the two Navis ten minutes to even try to figure out what was wrong.

"Hurry!" Chaud said pointedly.

"What's it LOOK like we're doing!"

Finally, Torch located the source of the problem, a large digitree in the center of the area. Slashing and burning vines out of the way, they managed to run into Sen.

"Huh? Hey, guys," she said distractedly.

"Sen, how is she?" Torch asked at once.

"Not good. Mamoru sent me down here to try and figure it out..."

"Why didn't he send Akiron?"

Sen shrugged her shoulders. "Don't ask _me_. Found a way past that digitree yet?"

"_Past_ it? We've been trying to get _to_ it," ProtoMan said.

"Follow me. There's nothing there, but the main server is behind it."

"Great," Torch said, "I can burn it down!"

A green Navi blocked the path to the tree, apparently very pleased with himself.

"A TetraCode, and three Navis to blame it on. Isn't this wonderful." He looked at Sen. "I remember you. I'm supposed to delete while I'm here."

"I'd like to see you try, PlantMan," she snapped.

"Perhaps I'll take you up on that!" Vines came from out of nowhere, binding the three Navis in a living cocoon of plants.

"GET OFFA ME!" Torch set the plants afire, dropping to the ground. "Hold still!" he warned ProtoMan. He shot fire at the vines binding Sen and ProtoMan. ProtoMan dropped also, but Sen remained high in the air, more vines wrapping around her from the digitree, pinning her there.

"Shut down the server!" she shouted at them. "Shut it down and it should stop the growth system!"

"How?" Torch asked, utterly confused, vines everywhere. ProtoMan could have sworn the flicker of a smile flitted across her impassive face.

"HIT IT UNTIL IT BREAKS!"

"Fine by me!" ProtoMan slashed his way through vines and leaves making a barrier toward the server, Torch made the job easier by burning a hole in the route. Finally, the server was in flames, burning into a pile of ashes on the floor.

"Well... I think it's broken now," ProtoMan said wryly.

Torch caught PlantMan attempting an escape with Sen.

"LET HER GO!" Torch shouted at him, shooting fireballs at his back.

"NO!" PlantMan retreated along with the remainder of the vines. "At least I got the TetraCode to Lord Wily... so what if I can't pin the blame on you!" He vanished, taking the digitree with him, dropping Sen from the height of the digitree.

"Sen!" ProtoMan rushed forward, catching her. "Are you all right?" he asked, setting her upright.

"Yeah... thanks, ProtoMan." She definitely smiled, jacking out. "Later, guys."

"Jack out ProtoMan!" Chaud raced back to the floor of the operating room, Raize close on his heels. Everything seemed all right, until a nurse came out and told them that they would have to go home. The operation would take all night now.


	12. Code for Chaos

Chapter Twelve:

Code for Chaos

Dr. Wily paced the room, impatient for PlantMan's return. "Where is he!"

"I am here, sir." Wily jumped.

"Aha! It's about time, PlantMan!" Wily eyed him carefully. "Well?"

"We've got the last TetraCode, Lord Wily."

"Bwahahaha!" Wily roared. "And? What of that traitor Sen!"

"She... escaped." PlantMan sighed.

"Well, there's still time... nonetheless! Why did you let her escape?" Wily demanded at once.

"There were other Navis with her," PlantMan explained quickly.

"Oh? And who might they be?"

"There was the fire Navi, Torch."

"Blast him. Blast the lot of them," Wily snapped. "Why must they be such an annoyance!" Wily shook his head. "Who else?"

"Agent ProtoMan."

"WHAT!" Wily gasped. An Official Navi with two civilians?

"It's true," PlantMan nodded.

"Yeah." A girl with a long black coat and hood walked into the room. "From what I've seen, Agent Chaud's kinda attached to that Navi's operator. Of course ProtoMan would be nearby. And he was able to clear up the poor hospital's mess, wasn't he."

"What? Is she in the hospital?" Wily asked eagerly. The girl nodded.

"But if you were gonna do something, you kinda missed your chance, old man. She was having an operation done when PlantBoy attacked, but she's fine now."

"Blast it!" Wily shouted.

"Yeah. Agent ProtoMan and that Torch character went and un-fixed the growth system _just_ in time. Agent Chaud's been there all day."

"Wait a moment... what did you say about Agent Chaud?"

"He's been there since 7:30 this morning?"

"No, no, no, before that!"

"Oh! He's... rather... _attached_... to that girl. I think they're... friends."

"Come now, you must have more information that that," Wily pressed her. "You're not my best spy for nothing."

"Well..." The girl turned away, smiling to herself. "This morning Agent Chaud woke up from a dream concerning the girl. He seems to have... fallen in _love_ with her," she confirmed with a giggle.

Wily's eyes flashed. "Then, I think, I have a better plan to get rid of him."

"We target the girl," PlantMan said, catching on.

"And if—no, _when!_— he comes for her," Wily continued, building up speed, "we can off them both and save time. But... the girl nevertheless intrigues me... she'd make a useful contribution to our team..."

"Why's that?" the girl asked, offended. "You've got me, haven't you?"

"Yes, I've got you," Wily said dismissively, "but her skills are rather impressive."

"But she's done nothing but destroy our plans," PlantMan pointed out.

"That's true. Perhaps we should just kill them both," the girl said hopefully.

"Ah, why not. Chaud's love will be his weakness. The weakness we have been searching for all this time!"

"Shall we initiate Cybergeddon?" PlantMan asked.

"Not just yet. Let the girl have time to... recover," Wily said. "We don't want an unfair advantage, now do we...?"

His customary evil grin spread across his face.


	13. Too Late

Chapter Thirteen:

Too Late

Suffering through another day of school, Chaud walked sub-consciously to the hospital. Every step reminded him of the rest of the school, buzzing about the N1. About Nami and Terry, who had told everyone that, quite simply, they were _not_ going out.

_Yet_.

It was late. Would Terry go through?

"Idiot," Chaud scoffed. "He doesn't know what happened yesterday..." To his shock, he saw Terry on the other side of the beach, staring at the waves.

As if struck by lightning, Chaud remembered his promise. He'd promised to forgive Terry... if Nami came out in one piece. Looking up to the third floor windows, he saw one with a light on. Mamoru's shadow was clearly visible in the light. He appeared to be talking to someone. Laughing.

_I doubt he'd do that if Nami wasn't ok..._ Resignedly, he walked towards Terry, staring at the ground, wondering what on earth he was supposed to say.

They literally ran into each other. Terry had been looking up at the clouds, and Chaud had been staring at the sand, so neither of them had noticed the other coming the same way.

"Oh... hey, Terry," Chaud sighed.

"Hey..." They didn't look at each other, both uncomfortably aware that they were having a conversation for the first time since their brief ten second one at the N1.

Finally, both of them said, "I'm sorry."

"Huh?" Chaud looked at Terry, who sighed.

"She asked you to apologize, too, huh?" he asked.

"Yeah..."

"Well... I guess we have," Terry pointed out.

"Guess so." Chaud extended his hand, Terry momentarily shook it, also looking at the third floor window. The light had gone out.

"Hey, wasn't Mamoru in there a second ago?" Terry asked.

"Yeah..."

"HEY! TERRY! CHAUD!" Mamoru's voice finally reached them, he was at the doors of the hospital, running towards them. Nami was far in front of him, also running, running towards them. "HEADS UP!"

"Nami!"

She smiled as she reached them, throwing her arms around both of them.

"I'm so proud of you two," she said, still beaming, absolutely breathless.

"Should you really be running?" Chaud asked her concernedly.

"Probably not," she admitted. "But... do you see anyone caring?"

"Yeah, your brother." Nami flinched, turning around.

"I'm... in trouble... huh?" she asked warily. Mamoru sighed, folding his arms.

"Look... as long as you're out here... you may as well tell them what you told me."

Nami smiled a sort of nervous half-smile. "Do I...?"

"Yes. You have to."

"But—"

"Now. You came out here. You should tell them." Mamoru turned around and left.

Nami bit her lip, dropping to the ground.

"Nami?" Both boys dropped beside her, alarmed. She was still conscious, but was drawing something in the sand.

"What... are you doing?" Terry asked.

She said nothing, yet continued drawing. Finally, she looked at Chaud.

"You should remember this." She moved away from her drawing, and Chaud recognized it. Drawn in the wet sand was the TetraCode picture she and Sen had found.

"Yeah... what about it?" he asked.

"Haven't you thought about it at all?" she asked him.

"Not... really," he admitted. She shook her head.

"I think I've figured it out."

She pointed to each of the letters.

"These all stand for something. We know that," she said. "But look... 'Sch' must mean 'School'..."

"The first place something was stolen," Chaud said.

"Right. Then this 'Z' must mean 'Zoo', and then..."

"DNN TV S must be the DNN TV Station," Chaud sighed. "We should've had that one pinned from the start."

"I know, really... and then this 'H' must be the hospital, so..."

"If there really are four TetraCodes like you said," Chaud continued, horrified, "then the World Three has all four!"

"Which means we're in trouble."

"No kidding."

"What's going on?" Terry asked, confused.

"Long story short, the World Three stole stuff that could give them power over god-knows-what," Nami said, standing up.

"So... what are we going to do about it?"

"That's the problem..."

"We should ask someone," Chaud proposed. "Since obviously none of us know, someone else must, right?"

"Yeah... so who do we ask?" Nami pointed out.

"Why not Mamoru?" Terry suggested. "He might know..."

"Not Mamoru, I already asked him," Nami sighed. "Hey! I know!"

"What?"

"Dr. Hikari!"

Chaud and Terry stared at her.

"Lan's dad?"

"Well, yeah," she said. "He's the greatest PET programmer in history, if there's something trying to destroy the Net, he would probably know what it is."

"That's true..."

"But wouldn't he drag Lan into it?" Chaud asked. "I mean, Lan _is_ his son."

"Yeah, but what other choice do we have at this point?"

---

"Dr. Hikari, Agent Chaud would like a word," a SciLab assistant said, poking her head through the door.

"All right," Dr. Hikari said, not really listening. "Look at this, Lan. This is what you need to look out for in the field..."

Lan and MegaMan weren't listening either, they were watching the three people Lan's age coming into the room.

"Nami! You're out of the hospital!" MegaMan noticed. She smiled.

"Released this afternoon," she told them as Dr. Hikari looked up from his work.

"Yeah. You've got three tests to make up, and a whole lot of homework too," Lan told her conversationally. She sighed.

"Thanks, Lan, that's _exactly_ what I want to hear straight out of a hospital visit. I feel so loved now," she said sarcastically.

"Sorry..." She laughed, shaking her head.

"Is there something you need, Chaud?" Dr. Hikari asked.

"Actually, yes," Chaud said, nodding. "Take a look at this picture." Sen wasted no time in uploading the TetraCode picture to the computer screen. "Does this ring any bells?"

Dr. Hikari studied the picture for a moment, deep in thought. "I think I've seen this before. This looks like a Wily operation."

"We know as much," Chaud said, "but we don't know what these TetraCodes do."

"So... TetraCodes, huh...?"

"Correct. Any ideas?" Nami asked.

"First off, where did you find this?" Dr. Hikari asked. "This picture?"

She sighed. "Can I tell you the Jomon Electric banner link does NOT go to the Xenographics site?"

"Oh. UnderNet trick?"

"Yes."

"Hm." Dr. Hikari fell into silence again. "I can't tell you everything you need to know about this, but I can tell you what I do know.

"This picture is the only thing relating to the TetraCodes, right?" Chaud and Nami nodded. "You're sure?"

"Nami and I cross-referenced the word with every single database and search engine on Earth," Sen told him. "This is all we got from a Nation X database."

"Ok... so. Since you're here, I can assume you don't know anything else. Am I right?"

"Yes," Chaud said.

"Well. These TetraCodes, they are complex password programs, each holding the key to a high power barrier in the Internet. There are four barriers, and beyond them is a specially sealed container. In it is the program Dr. Hikari Senior created to be a more advanced internet. But, the program, called Alpha, went haywire, causing all kinds of mayhem and destruction in electric devices connected to it. Eventually, it had to be taken offline and placed in the security container. Wily's plan this time must be to resurrect Alpha, and let it wreak its havoc on the world."

"But why were the TetraCodes in such easily accessed places?" Nami asked. "I would think they would be under official protection 24/7."

"One would think," Dr. Hikari agreed. "The TetraCodes were placed in the most inconspicuous places, places where evidently no one would think to look."

"But there was no security guarding them," Chaud pointed out.

"The TetraCodes were no doubt planted in to computers and servers without the knowledge of the people who worked with them," Dr. Hikari explained.

"Well, why wasn't there a fifth TetraCode in official protection?" Lan asked. "That would've been the smart thing to do..."

"That was controversial at the time," Dr. Hikari sighed. "But eventually, the Officials were so busy with other affairs that they never bothered. Or it could simply have been overconfidence."

"Perhaps. But how do we stop it?" Chaud asked. "By the sound of it, we don't want this Alpha running loose."

"That's the thing," Dr. Hikari said sadly. "Right now, there is no way to stop anything Alpha might do."

"Guys?" Terry asked, edging away from the door. "Do you... hear that?"

"What?" Nami asked, leaning to the side to see out the door. "Oh, my God..."

"What is it?" Dr. Hikari asked.

"I think... it's too late to find a way," she said, looking back at the rest of the group.

"What do you mean?" Chaud looked out the door as well. A military tank was boring through the doors and coming towards them.


	14. Chaos Ensues

Chapter Fourteen:

Chaos Ensues

"We're in trouble!" Terry and Nami backed away from the door in shock. Dr. Hikari ushered towards the door on the opposite end of the room. The door, however, remained locked.

"Yeah. We're in trouble," Sen agreed, jacking into the door. "Let's see... hang tight, guys!"

"Trying!" The military tank finally got through the door to the lab, wrecking computers and screens.

"Anytime, Sen," Nami said nervously, backing into the wall.

"Got it! The door's unlocked!"

"LET'S GO!" They all ran through the newly unlocked door, quickly getting lost in the winding halls of SciLab.

"Everyone stop!" Dr. Hikari finally shouted. "We're not going to get out running like this!"

"What do you think we oughta do, then, Dad?" Lan asked, looking nervously behind them as the tank came closer. Thankfully, it was a fairly large tank and wasn't going to catch them anytime too soon.

"For starters, we might split up."

"Split up?" For all the rest, this idea was unthinkable.

"If we split up, it's less likely that it'll catch us all together and have a bigger target to shoot at," Dr. Hikari said.

"On the contrary, if we split up, what would happen if one of us _did_ get shot?" Nami asked. "There'd be no one to help or say anything to the others."

"That may be true," Dr. Hikari agreed, undaunted. "If we split up and go in pairs..."

But there's five of you," ProtoMan pointed out. "Two doesn't go into five without decimals, and I don't think anyone wants to be half a person."

"Also true. So Chaud and Lan will go with me, and Terry will go with Nami."

_WHAT?_

"Too late!" SparkMan pointed out in panic. The tank had caught up with them, but it wasn't shooting at them.

"Hey... wait a moment..." Nami slowly walked forward. "This... this isn't a military tank at all!"

"What do you mean?" Dr. Hikari also ventured forth, curious. "It... why, you're right! It's a Wily bot!"

"Well. _That_ was a colossal waste of time," Sen concluded. "We may as well— what?"

"HEY!" A mechanical arm shot out of the robot, barely missing Dr. Hikari. He stumbled back, shocked.

"What, I didn't have to miss, you know!" Wily's sardonic voice cackled from the machine speaker.

"Really. You're finally cracking up, old man!" Chaud snapped.

"Am I?" Wily shot back. "Who said I was trying to hit someone!"

"Wha...?" Looking up, they saw that the roof was beginning to crack from the tank breaking down the lower part of the walls.

"Oh, man!" Lan led the way out of the hall past a few workers running in various directions, trying to save all the equipment and experiments.

"This is trouble," Sen said. "Wily's built something, and it actually works!"

"What do you mean?" Nami asked.

"Well, look at the situation. This thing got into SciLab, so it obviously surpassed all the security, and... well, I mean, it got pretty far!"

"That all may be true, but I still don't think it really works," Terry said.

"What makes you say that?"

"He missed. He said he didn't have to, but still. Come on, he's kinda... old. I wouldn't expect him to land a shot like that."

"I heard that, laddie!" The robotic arm shot out again, missed Terry, and instead scooped up Nami.

"LEMME GO!" she shouted, struggling to break free.

"Nami!"

"Ha! I've got the girl," Wily crowed, his goal achieved. "Well now, I must take my leave. Goodbye!"

The tank left, Nami still in its armored clutches.

"Still think it doesn't work, Terry?" ProtoMan asked.


	15. Cries for Help

Chapter Fifteen:

Cries for Help

Mamoru paced the living room floor, panicked. "She _did_ say she'd be home today?"

"Yeah," Ailee agreed, looking up from her crazy-quilt. "Maybe they detained her."

"Again! I should think they'd call us and tell us about it," Raize said, also disregarding his work on Torch's cyberslider.

"Weren't you there with her a while ago?" Sean asked, putting down his book. "I thought you were at the hospital with her."

"Yeah, I was."

"Why'd you leave?" Ailee asked, taking up her patchwork again.

"She was talking with Chaud and Terry."

Silence.

"You left her there with two guys?" Raize asked suspiciously. Mamoru rolled his eyes.

"Like they're gonna do anything... _insane_. It's a public beach, for Christ's sake."

"True..." They fell into silence again, the only sounds were of Ailee's needle and Sean turning pages.

"What could be taking her so long!" Raize finally demanded after ten minutes. "Maybe we should go get her."

"Maybe. I'll go," Mamoru said distractedly, opening to door to find Dr. Hikari there, about to knock.

"Oh... ah, Mamoru Hallissy, I assume?" Dr. Hikari asked.

"Yes... can I help you, Dr.?" Mamoru asked, confused. Why was Dr. Hikari here?

"Well, there's been a bit of a... mishap, I suppose."

"Is... oh, god, it's about Nami, isn't it?" Ailee asked, standing up from her table, dropping her needlework with a clatter onto the glass surface of the table.

"I'm afraid so. She's been kidnapped by Dr. Wily," Dr. Hikari explained. "Is there any reason that he might have to take her?"

"Wily?" Mamoru looked back at Ailee and the rest. They all looked shocked, even scared.

A moment later, all four siblings were running out the door, leaving a very confused Dr. Hikari on their doorstep as Mamoru shouted "Sorry, Dr. Hikari!" over his shoulder.

---

Nami woke up in a smaller than average room, bound at the ankles and knees. Her first thought was that everything after the Sunayama incident had been a dream, since she was bound in the same way and lying on the ground in a room. But the moment she saw Wily standing over her, she knew it had not been a dream.

"YOU!" She scrambled up, tripped on her bonds, and fell back down with a resounding crash; the floor must have been hollow. Wily cackled as he watched her struggle to free herself. "Why am I not surprised...? What do you want!"

"The same as always... to destroy the Internet!" Wily told her. Nami sighed.

"I could've guessed as much. What's your wonderful plan this time?"

"Plan?" Wily asked.

"Yeah, plan. Your plan that appears foolproof until ProtoMan or MegaMan comes and finds a loophole in it," Nami snapped.

"Rrr! This time it really IS foolproof!"

"If I'm not mistaken, that's more or less exactly what you've said in the past."

"ARGH! THIS IS PRECISELY WHY I DISLIKE YOU!" Wily shouted, enraged. "Cheeky impertinence! Superciliousness and condescension! You're as bad as those two agents are!"

"So what if I am?" she shot back.

Wily glared at her. "Well. Since you've no doubt succeeded in irritating the living daylights out of me... I shall simply ignore you until they get here." He turned his back on her, looking out of the window in the room. It was a large window encompassing the entirety of the room, making it appear as though the only components of the room were the floor and the ceiling. It was a tinted window; they could see out, but no one could see in.

"Until who gets here?" Nami asked, worried.

"That depends. Whoever gets here first!"

Nami shook her head. "What do you want with... whoever?"

"Again. That depends. I might simply lock them up, like you, or I might destroy them entirely!" Unable to resist himself, Wily started laughing again.

While he was busy enjoying himself, Nami scooted over to the window, watching for any sign of life in the room below.

The room was large enough to have fit the whole junior high school into without scraping the walls. So, not so much a room as a... hm. What was it? Wires were running along the walls and ceiling, lights flashed from the floor and ceiling, and right below the small observation area she was in was a computer. A supercomputer, obviously able to process huge amounts of data all at once. That looked like the sort of thing that could actually destroy the Internet.

Suddenly, Nami remembered. _The TetraCodes! That computer, it must be processing the codes right now!_

On the opposing side of the room was a door. A large metal door. As she was hoping and praying that no one would be fool enough to come after her, the door opened. In ran Mamoru, Ailee, Raize, and Sean, closely followed by Lan, Terry... and Chaud.

_There is NO WAY this can turn out well..._


	16. Fighting Back, Striking Out

Chapter Sixteen

Fighting Back, Striking Out

Mamoru looked around, panicking. "Where could she be?"

"What's that up there?" Ailee asked, pointing to the black box in the high corner of the room.

"Dunno. This place looks empty," Raize said, scanning the room. "Pretty big, though..."

"No kidding. She could be anywhere," Sean added, running forward. He stopped dead in the middle of the room.

"Something wrong?" Lan asked.

"No... I just... I think she's up there."

Nami watched helplessly as Sean looked up towards the observation area.

"Yeah. I really think she's up there."

"But how do _we_ get there?" Terry asked.

"Jump?" Raize suggested wryly. "Yeah right... we'd need a helicopter or something."

"True..."

Chaud looked around, still in shock. Nami, kidnapped by Wily. And now, he was here, trying to rescue her with six other people who cared about her. Ok, maybe not so much Lan, but...

Suddenly, a noise came from the black box area. Wily descended from a platform supported by cords from the high ceiling. Nami was also on the platform, tied up.

"Let her go!" Mamoru shouted, taking a step forward.

"Who said I was going to do anything to her?" Wily shot at him. "I'll let her go."

All seven of the rescuers looked shocked.

"But... wait... no fight? No resistance? This isn't like you," Lan said.

"I never said I was going to let her go without a fight."

"I'm confused..."

"So what are we waiting for!" Raize snapped hotly. "Let's go!"

"I'll tell you what we're waiting for," Wily barked. "THIS!"

A strange, orange _thing_ was seeping from the walls, from the computer.

"What the?"

"What is this, Wily?" Chaud demanded, backing into the center of the room along with the rest of the group.

"This? This is my plan! ALPHA!"

"We got that much," Lan said to the group. "But how do we stop the thing!"

"Good question!" Mamoru said. "But wait. If this thing is pure data, what's to say the rest of us can't crossfuse?"

"Good point. Let's try it, Lan," Chaud said.

"Way ahead of you!" Ailee had already crossfused with LaMoon, she was hanging by a thread of light from the ceiling, trying to find a path to Nami.

"Well... obviously it can be done."

All the others crossfused, soon fireballs and energy blasts were flying in every direction at the orange thing. The orange mass appeared to be congregating in the middle of the room where they had been. It slowly rose from the ground, forming a sort of semi-human form. It had no legs, only the massive orange puddle at the base of its form. Essentially, it was a long thing, rounded off at the top. It had two arms with two or three fingerlike objects at the ends, and these arms appeared to be stretchable and replaceable.

Mamoru shot over to Nami and Wily, knocked Wily off the elevated platform, and released his sister.

"Thanks, Mo," she said before crossfusing. "Let's go!"

"Ready when you are," Mamoru agreed, leaping down to the floor with the others. Nami leapt into the air, throwing shuriken stars at the growing Alpha.

"You cannot defeat Alpha!" Wily cackled evilly from an untouched patch of ground. "No one can!"

"Then, answer me this," Nami snapped from behind him. "How will you?"

"Huh?" Alpha, fully formed, made its way to Wily's patch of floor, engulfing him in its orangeness.

"Aside from being hilariously funny, she's got a point," Raize said. "If this mad scientist freak can't control this thing, are _we_ supposed to?"

"Even if we were, I don't think there's a way," Terry said, firing more shockwaves at Alpha, attempting to paralyze it.

"There's _gotta_ be a way!" Lan shouted, rapidly shooting the advancing orange blob.

"Wait a second..." Chaud noticed a blue orb in the middle of the blob. "That must be the core... if we destroy the core, there might be some way to beat it from there!"

"All right, everyone shoot for the blue core!" Ailee shouted across the room.

"All right!" Lan charged up shots and started pummeling the core. Parts of it began deteriorating, and finally, a reddish under-core was exposed.

"Aw, come on..." Nami threw stars at it, Ailee shot light, Mamoru hit it with all sorts of shadows, Raize tossed fireballs at it, and Sean fired lightning in addition to Terry's shockwaves, Lan's shots, and Chaud's sword, but the core remained undamaged.

"This could take a while," Sean panted as the blue core formed itself around the red again.

"If we could amplify our attacks somehow, it might have an effect," Mamoru sighed.

"Maybe we can," Sean said. "Look at it like this. You and Nami have dark-based attacks. Lan, Terry, Ailee, Raize, and me have light based attacks. What if we used ours to make your shadows bigger? And once we got through the core, Chaud could finish it with a physical attack!"

"That might work," Nami agreed.

"But our shadows aren't solid," Mamoru pointed out. "If we made them larger it might help... but it might not."

"Maybe I can help fix that," Terry said. "I've made shadows solid before, I bet I can do it again."

"Let's give it a shot," Raize said, starting a fire.

Lan and Raize started working together to create a bonfire that cast shadows on the vast walls of the ceiling. Sean repeatedly struck the spot with lightning, and finally, Terry shocked the whole thing. As he had said, the shadow became a solid thing which Mamoru and Nami promptly took control of. Nami wrapped her shuriken in it, raining them down on Alpha.

Mamoru spun a piece of it around, becoming a slim rope of darkness which he shaped into an exact replica of Alpha. It was almost exactly the same, and it served as a suitable distraction.

Finally, when the real Alpha struck the shadow copy, it took enough damage to destroy the entire blue core, and part of the red core. But before they could do anything, the cores regenerated.

"Doesn't ANYTHING beat this thing!" Raize shouted in frustration.

Nami ran over to Terry. "Shock me," she told him.

"What!"

"Shock me!" she repeated. "Just do it! I have an idea!"

"For the record, you told me to!" Terry shocked her with numerous shockwaves, her form was suddenly charged with static electricity. She smiled.

"Thanks. I hope this works..." She charged towards the puddle that was Alpha's base, leaping up...

She collided with it, sparks flying everywhere.

"NAMI!" Mamoru yelled. "What are you doing!"

"Getting rid of this thing!" she shot back.

"Nami! Get out of there, now!" Chaud shouted at her. "You'll get absorbed!"

"Maybe that's what I was _trying_ to do!"

In any case, that's exactly what _did_ happen. Alpha absorbed her in the same way it had absorbed Wily.

"_NAMI_!"


	17. The World is Saved

Chapter Seventeen:

The World is Saved

Nami's shadow of a form did not disappear into the orange mass that was Alpha. She continued to glow with the electrical energy Terry had shocked her with. Since it had absorbed something charged with a current, Alpha froze. The core cracked.

"NOW!" Mamoru charged a shot of shadows, striking Alpha square in the remains of the core. The others quickly followed suit, finally Chaud slashed at Alpha, destroying the last of the energy it had.

With a resounding CRASH, Alpha fell to the floor, Wily and Nami released. Both fell to the floor, unconscious.

"Nami!" Mamoru ran to her, obviously scared. "Nami! Wake up!"

"Huh...?" She slowly sat up, dizzy. "Wha... did it work?"

"Did it _work_!" Raize laughed. "What kinda fool are you, Nami? You ask someone to shock you, dive headlong into a virus five times your size about to take over the Internet, and finally break the thing...?" Raize crouched down beside her, looking at her at eye level. "Yep. You're my sister."

She smiled. "Wait! What about Wily?"

"We got him," Lan said. "No worries, Nami! He's going straight back to jail!"

"Good thing too," Sean sighed. "If we had to do _that_ again... I'd just die. How you Official people manage to do this stuff every day... man, you guys are abnormal!"

---

Mamoru went to visit Nami again, who was in the hospital.

Again.

He found her sitting on a bench on the beach, staring reminiscently out at the beach. She wasn't severely injured, but being absorbed by Alpha had done something peculiar to her ocular systems; she had mysteriously gone blind after they had returned home.

"Nami!"

"Hm?" She looked out at him, smiling. "Hey, Mo."

"You ok?" he asked, sitting down beside her.

"I'm fine. I can almost see," she said optimistically.

"Almost? What are you doing out here, then?"

"Staring at the waves."

"Obviously." They sat in silence for a while. Finally, Mamoru spoke up. "Marc, Manu, and Jean-Christophe called."

"From Netopia?"

"Yeah. They were so disappointed the N1 was cancelled because of the Sunayama thing," Mamoru laughed. "They say hi, and they want to know if you said yes."

"To what?"

"I don't know," Mamoru said. "They hung up before I could ask, though. Sounded kinda important."

"Said yes... what could I say yes to?"

"No idea..." Mamoru's alarm on his PET started beeping. "Oh! Man, I'm gonna be late... I've gotta go back to Jomon," he said hastily. "Overtime... I'll talk to you later." He hurried off.

"Bye..." A few minutes passed, suddenly her own PET started beeping. "Huh? What is it, Sen?"

"It's an email," Sen said in bewilderment.

"Who's it from?"

"The mayor!"

"The _mayor?_ What's it say?"

---

"It says:

_Dear Sir:_

_You are cordially invited to participate in a localized tournament_

_The Den Tech City Tournament_

_Which will commence on the_

_26th of December._

_Note: This is a new style of tournament, a Doubles Crossfusion tournament. Please talk to your partner, and send a response as soon as possible._

_-- The Mayor, and the NBA_

"What the heck?" Chaud asked. "NBA? Like basketball?"

"No, NBA stands for Net Battle Association," ProtoMan told him. "Doubles Crossfusion?"

"Partner?"

"Confused?"

"Yeah. What is this supposed to be, anyway, a real tournament invite or some request to come to a dinner party? 'Cordially invited'?"

"And what kind of name is The Den Tech City Tournament? I thought these people were professionals," ProtoMan added.

"I know. Whatever. Let's stop making fun of their writing and figure out what the heck this all means."

"Obviously, this 'partner X' needs to agree to do it with you, it can't just be you," ProtoMan said. "So. Who is it? Why didn't they tell us?"

The PET beeped again as another email came in.

"This could answer it."

It did. It was a tournament tree, naming Namirra Hallissy and Chaud Blaze partners for the tournament.

"Nami and me, huh..." Chaud fell into silence.

"What? You guys are on speaking terms now..." When Chaud didn't respond, ProtoMan shook his head. "Are you STILL obsessing over how to tell her?"

"So what if I am?" Chaud snapped defensively. "It's not as easy as it sounds! If it was, I would've done it by now..."

"So, obviously... Terry would have, too." Chaud sighed.

"Look. I want to tell her. I swear I do. But I don't know how."

"Just tell her and get it over with!"

"I KNOW! I just... what am I supposed to say that doesn't make me look like an idiot?"

"She doesn't think you're an idiot," ProtoMan said, "she won't think you're an idiot, you're friends."

"And I swear, she will be flattered." Chaud looked up, Sen was on his computer. "Hey. You hear about that weird tournament thing?"

"With an invite like a formal dinner request? Yeah," ProtoMan said. "What's up?"

"Nami wants to talk to you. She's on the beach right now. She says you two need to _discuss_ this."

"Discuss? What's to discuss?" ProtoMan asked quietly as Chaud got up, getting ready to leave.

"God, I don't know. She wants to talk to him," she said.

"Does she...?"

"Yeah. And...?"

"Mm-hm," ProtoMan nodded.

Sen smiled.

"This should be an interesting conversation..."


	18. Discussions

Chapter Eighteen:

Discussions

Nami was still on the bench a few hours later. Her eyes had cleared up, and now she could really see what was going on. She noticed a shadow moving toward her; looking up, she saw it was Chaud.

"Hey, Nami."

"Hey." She smiled. "You get that email from the mayor?"

Chaud sighed. "Unfortunately. Why did they have to write it so...?"

"Bizarrely?" She laughed. "I know. We all play nice until we actually get into the tournament, then we all blast each other to pieces in front of a live audience," Nami agreed. "Gotta love society these days..."

Chaud laughed. "So. What do you say? You in?"

"All in," she agreed. "So that'd make us a team, huh?"

"Yeah. That ok?"

"Ok? To be on a team with my absolute best friend? I'd say that's ok. Oh, how we shall disappoint the general public!" She smiled, however Chaud looked confused.

"What do you mean?"

"You and I were the N1 tournament finalists," she reminded him. "The entire world was expecting the most cataclysmic battle between Official and civilian the world had ever seen!... more or less," she added. "Some friends of mine called from Netopia. They were so disappointed that the N1 had to be cancelled," she said. "Apparently, they were really looking forward to seeing us battle."

"Really...?" He remained impassive.

"Hm? What is it? I... did I say something?"

"No, no... Nami... I need to tell you something."

"What?"

"I..." He stared down at the sand, unable to find the right words to say.

Nami, sensing his discomfort, looked at him, smiling.

"Oh. I see."

"S-See what?" he asked quickly, looking at her.

"_Amicalement."_ She tilted her head back, staring into the clouds.

"Which means...?"

"Love."

"L-Love!" Chaud stood up. "Who said anything... about...love...?"

He broke off. She was looking at him, arms crossed, a doubtful look on her face. "Really...?"

Chaud felt his cheeks go red. "Well... I mean, I..." Finally, he took a deep breath. "Nami, I'm an Official! I can't be... in love... I mean, not with you! You're my best friend, and... I— I just can't!" he finally shouted.

Silence. Very _uncomfortable_ silence.

Nami stood up. "I stand corrected," she said softly. She turned away, and left. _Maybe Ailee was right when she said guys were jerks..._ She shook her head, walking faster. _Chaud's not a jerk... he's... _She closed her eyes, feeling terrible.

_Oh, my God, what have I done now?_ Chaud thought in horror, realizing that his statement hadn't come out the way he'd hoped it would.

"Chaud, what are you doing!" ProtoMan demanded. "I thought you wanted to tell her you loved her!"

"I did! I mean, I do! I— oh, god..." He stared after her, saddened.

"If you love her, you probably ought to make sure she knows that," ProtoMan said. "Don't let her get away from you."

"Well... I... oh, forget it!"

He ran after her, grabbing her shoulders in his hands. Turning her around, he saw that she was crying silently.

"Nami... oh, god, I'm so sorry..." She turned away from him, tears running down her face. "I... I'm sorry... I didn't mean... I— I mean..." He sighed, pulling her towards him, wrapping his arms around her. "Forget what I said..."

Nami opened her eyes, utterly confused. Her best friend, whom she had unintentionally developed a crush on, was embracing her on the beach. _This HAS to be a dream... but my dreams normally make more sense than this...!_

"Nami..." Chaud held her tightly to him, trying to think rationally. _Don't mess up, don't mess up, don't..._ "I love you, Nami."

Nami froze. _Ok, NOW I'm dreaming._ "Wh— What?"

"I love you," Chaud repeated. "I... there's nothing else to say... I love you."

"Chaud..." She smiled, blushing, slightly glad he couldn't see her face. "I love you, too."

Chaud walked the entire way home with a heart that felt as light as a helium balloon.

((A/N: I know, I know, it was a really short chapter. But come on, it's CHRISTMAS next! Christmas is cool!))


	19. Arguments

Chapter Nineteen:

Arguments

Friday December 20, 7 AM

Chaud knocked on Nami's door, smiling as Nami looked out from her window on the second floor. He waved, she smiled, running downstairs.

"Ready for school?" he asked her as she slung her backpack over her shoulder, closing the door behind her.

"Depends. Is that viral destruction project due today?" she asked.

"No, after the break," he reminded her. She sighed.

"Thank god."

They had "graduated" from junior high, and were almost halfway through their freshman high school year. The sad thing was that they only had three classes together, not including lunch: Homeroom at the beginning of the day, science right after lunch, and math at the end of the day. Also, unfortunately for them, everyone at school knew who they were, and that they were going out, AND that they had not kissed.

YET.

Consequently, _someone_ (probably Lan and Maylu) had taken the liberty of stringing mistletoe all over school.

"Ok, which halls have mistletoe today?" Nami asked Sen on the walk over.

"C-cluster middle hall, B-cluster by the construction site, the entire Language building, and the gym walkway," Sen responded almost immediately.

Nami smiled. "Good. One more mistletoe-free day." Chaud laughed.

"I don't know. Maybe _someone_ will change it."

"Maybe. But I don't think _anyone_ would dare try. After Principal Numa's reaction to that incident in the office..." She shook her head, smiling.

"That was insanity," Chaud agreed as they walked through the school's front gates. "Wait a second... where's Sean? He's normally here already."

"He's taking the day off," Nami sighed. "No fair. Juniors have all the fun."

"Well, we'll be juniors someday," Chaud said optimistically. "He's not cutting, is he?"

"No, I think he's working, actually," Nami said. "The glass department has been packed since the holiday season started."

"At least today's the last day of school before break," ProtoMan reminded them. "After that—"

"It'll be nothing but Ailee dragging us everywhere to go Christmas shopping," Sen moaned. "I HATE Christmas shopping..."

"Sorry..."

---

The school day went by quickly, and soon, Chaud was lying on his bed at home three days later, his eyes closed, but not sleeping. He was thinking about what he always thought about on Christmas break. No school for two whole weeks... his birthday tomorrow, on the 24th... Christmas the day after...

And he still hadn't told his father about Nami. As a matter of fact, he'd never even seen her, at least that Chaud was aware of.

_Hey... what should I get her for Christmas? Something... something like... oh, I don't know..._

Suddenly, he became aware of noise. It was someone at his bedroom door. Chaud's father stepped into the room.

"Chaud?"

"Oh! Hello, Father!" He scrambled to get up, tripped, and fell back down onto the bed. Chaud's father looked coldly down at him. "Um, how are you?" _I'm so dead..._

"Fine. Come downstairs for a moment, I want to talk to you." He left without further word.

"Well... ok..." Chaud looked at ProtoMan, removing him from his pocket. "Didn't he snap at me the last time I asked him that?"

"Yes, as a matter of fact..." Putting ProtoMan back in his pocket, Chaud descended the stairs, wondering what on earth his father could possibly want to talk to him about.

---

"Chaud. I've heard... _news_ lately."

"News? Like what?" Chaud asked.

"Just... listen. I've been hearing things. About you. You, and some girl." Mr. Blaze didn't face his son, rather, he kept his distance, facing the opposite direction, looking at the walls. "Is it true?"

Chaud remained silent. "Well... I... yes."

"What's her name?"

"Her name's Nami."

"Nami...?"

"Hallissy." Chaud smiled despite himself. His father, however, shook his head.

"I was afraid of this."

"What?" Chaud leaned forward, confused. "Afraid of what?"

Mr. Blaze finally turned around, his eyes locking with Chaud's. "How did you meet this girl?"

"She came to school in March, Mr. Matsu wanted me to show her around school, and we happened to become friends."

"Hm. She looks like a Nation X girl."

"Well, she's not... wait, you've seen her?"

"The N1 incident wasn't exactly a secret, Chaud Blaze. How old is she?"

"She's my age, she's fourteen," Chaud said, recalling her birthday, May 5.

"Fourteen. If I recall, tomorrow you are turning fifteen."

"What does that have to do with anything?"

Mr. Blaze shook his head again. "Exactly what have you done with this girl?"

"Nothing," Chaud said quickly. "I mean, nothing... well... nothing extreme."

"Nothing. Really."

"Absolutely positively nothing," Chaud said, nodding.

"Then why do I get the impression that you are hiding something from me?"

"H-Hiding? What's to hide?" Chaud asked.

"I don't know. You tell me!"

"There's nothing to tell!" Chaud insisted. "Nothing! Why are you being so paranoid?"

"Paranoid?" Mr. Blaze demanded. "What could you possibly mean, paranoid?"

"You're never here! And you suddenly show up out of nowhere, and start cross-examining me about who I see!" Chaud snapped.

"DON'T you raise your voice to me," Mr. Blaze shot back. "I don't want my son mingling with civilians!"

"Civilians!" Chaud retorted. "If you didn't want me to be around these 'civilians', then why did you let me go to public school?"

"Because ProtoMan convinced me to!" Mr. Blaze told him. "Chaud Eugene Blaze, I do NOT want you to be anywhere close to that Nation X girl!"

"She's NOT form Nation X!" Chaud shouted. "She's from Netopia!"

"She doesn't have a Netopian accent, nor does she have the correct build for a Netopian!"

"None of her family does!"

"Her parents are here too?"

"No! Because her parents died, her siblings all live here now!"

"Her siblings? All those other Hallissys that look nothing alike? I don't think they're even related!"

"Why does it matter to you?" Chaud demanded, standing up sharply. "Why does it suddenly matter who I see at school? You never cared before I had friends, and since my oh so small group of friends now happens to include a girlfriend, you suddenly show up in my life and demand to know every little detail about her, and you forbid me to see her!"

"So she IS your girlfriend, huh?"

"So what if she is!"

"What makes her so special? Why did you choose this girl over all the girls at private school?"

"Because all the private school girls were preppy, annoying, and thinner than straws!"

"So what makes this girl different!"

"_Nami_ is different because she's normal! She's not perfect, and that's what I love about her!"

Silence. Mr. Blaze stood in shock at his son's words.

"Not perfect?"

"No! She's not a carbon copy of every other girl on the planet! She's unpredictable, and she's amazing, and... and she loves me."

"I'm sure that's what she said, but—"

"I don't care! I don't care what you think about her!" Chaud snapped. "I love her, and that's all that should matter to you, and to anyone else!"

With that, Chaud ran. He ran out the door, into the snow of December.

"CHAUD! Come back here!" his father shouted.

Chaud didn't even look back.


	20. Snowfall

Chapter Twenty:

Snowfall

"Let's go home, Chaud," ProtoMan said.

"No... I can't go home. Not after all that," Chaud sighed, shaking his head. "I can't..."

"Well, we can't stay in the park all night, you'll freeze," ProtoMan pointed out. "We've got to go somewhere. Go to Nami's... she'll understand."

"I don't want to have to talk to her about it..."

"You don't have to. I can tell them," ProtoMan offered.

"I..."

"Let's go, Chaud."

"...Fine."

He rose from the park bench, slowly making his way towards Nami's house.

It was one of those snowy nights, like the night every child dreams about before Christmas. The snow was falling softly on the ground, and the moon was full and bright. The stars twinkled in the sky above... and still, Chaud felt miserable.

He knocked on her door. No response for a while, then Sean opened the door.

"Hey, Chaud!" Sean smiled. "If you're looking for Nami, she's looking for you."

"What?"

"Yeah," Raize affirmed, looking up from what appeared to be a photo album. "She left for your house about ten minutes ago."

Chaud stood completely still for a moment, then closed his eyes. "Oh, my God."

He took off running for his house, leaving Sean and Raize very confused.

---

Nami knocked on Chaud's door, attempting to imagine his reaction when he saw her on the night before his birthday. ProtoMan had told Sen, who in turn had told Nami that Chaud's birthday was the day before Christmas. Thusly, Nami had decided to give him a gift early, since Ailee was taking her Christmas shopping the next day. Nami didn't see why, the Hallissys had been a little short on expendable money for a while. Maybe something small?

The door opened. Mr. Blaze stood in the doorway, looking a little shocked to see a girl on his doorstep at so late an hour.

"Um, excuse me...? I'm looking for Chaud," Nami explained. "Is he home?"

"No, he's not," Mr. Blaze said curtly. "Who, may I ask, are you?"

"My name's Nami Hallissy," she said. "I'm—"

"I know who you are," Mr. Blaze told her, cutting her off. "Please, come in. I'm sure Chaud will be back in a few minutes..."

"No, that's ok. I really should be going," Nami said. "If he does come back, can you tell him I stopped by?"

"Absolutely..." _Not._

---

Chaud and Nami ran into each other five minutes later, literally colliding on the sidewalk, both falling over into the snow.

"Oh! Hi, Chaud," Nami said, slightly shaken. "I was—"

"Looking for me, I know," he said, helping her up. "I... we need to talk."

"Wha... ok... let's go to the park," she said.

"Sure..."

They walked in silence to the park, both thinking of what to say.

"Nami, there's something I should tell you about," Chaud finally said once they had reached the park.

"I need to tell you something too," Nami admitted. "But you first."

"Ok... my dad just found out that we're going out."

Nami stared in shock at him. "Only just? Where has he been for the last six months?"

"I don't know, but somehow he found out without me telling him, and—"

"Why didn't you tell him?" Sen asked.

"Because... well, I never really see him, first of all," Chaud explained. "He's always out of town for some reason or another. BlazeQuest stuff... and when I do talk to him, he never really listens."

"Oh... how fun."

"I know," Chaud sighed. "But, anyway... today we got in a fight about you... He doesn't want me to see you."

Nami smiled. "Mamoru doesn't want me seeing you, either," she reminded him.

"Still?"

"Still. He likes you, don't get me wrong. But he's still a little overprotective since the whole Alpha thing."

"How many 'things' do we have?" ProtoMan asked. "The BubbleWash thing, the Sunayama thing, and now the Alpha thing! What next?"

"The Christmas thing?" Nami suggested, laughing. "You're right, if we have too many more 'things', I'll be all 'thing'-ed out."

"Yeah," Chaud agreed. "Hey. You wanted to tell me something, right?"

"Oh! Yeah," Nami remembered. "Come with me. There's something I want to show you." She took his hands, leading him towards her house.

"What are you doing?" he asked her, smiling.

"I'm showing you something," she said. "It's for your birthday!"

"Wait... how did you find out?"

"ProtoMan told Sen who told me," she told him, laughing.

"Then you'd know it's tomorrow, not today," he pointed out.

"I know. I'll be gone tomorrow, so I wanted to give it to you today! Come inside." She opened the door...

... to complete chaos. Remnants of pictures fluttered everywhere, what looked like the burned remains of a photo album lay on the floor by the fireplace.

"What... the heck!" Nami ventured forward, accidentally stepping on a piece of the album. "Oh... my god..."

"Whoa... something bad happened...?"

"No," Nami assured him, "no..." She shook her head. "Raize, I am gonna KILL you..."


	21. Brotherly Argument

Chapter Twenty-One:

Brotherly Argument

Mamoru knocked on the door to Raize's room the next morning, after the previous day's burnt mess of pictures and paper had been cleaned up, after Sean had gone to work, and after Ailee and Nami had left to gofor some last-minuteChristmas shopping.

"Raize? Open up," Mamoru said. "We need to talk."

"What about?" Raize's muffled voice asked from inside.

"Yesterday."

"Go away."

"No, I need to talk to you. Now."

"Yeah, now that everyone else is gone!"

"NOW, Raize!"

Raize slowly got up, and opened the door. "What?" he asked.

"You very well know 'what'." Mamoru walked inside, shutting the door behind him.

"What if I don't?"

"I'd think you'd gotten amnesia."

"Who are you?"

"Raize," Mamoru sighed. "Why did you do that?"

"Do what?"

"Ruin Nami's photo album!"

"I didn't _ruin_ it, I _burned_ it," Raize said bitterly.

"Is there a difference? But why? She's been working on that for weeks! It was for Chaud's birthday!"

"So?"

"So, she wanted to give it to him in a decently presentable state," Mamoru said. "I highly doubt she liked what you did to it."

"I know."

"Why did you _burn_ it?"

"I..." Raize broke off. "He wouldn't have liked it..."

"He would have _loved _it," Mamoru said testily. "Because she made it for him."

"Why does it matter? I burned a bunch of paper and pictures, who cares," Raize snapped, flopping down on his bed.

"Wh does it _matter_? It matters because Nami was planning to _give_ it to him," Mamoru said.

"But he didn't want it," Raize pointed out.

"Says who?"

"Says him," Raize lied.

Mamoru shook his head. "Look. Just... behave, ok? Christmas is tomorrow, and I bet you anything she's going to try and put it back together for him in time. _Please_ don't destroy it or disfigure it in any way this time," Mamoru sighed. "Please. For her sake."

"Yeah, sure... whatever."

Mamoru left, leaving Raize to himself.

"So. We gonna listen to him?" Torch asked once he felt Mamoru was a safe distance away.

"Course not," Raize said. "Hey... you know where a guy can get some mistletoe...?"

Torch laughed. "You are SO DEAD when Nami gets her hands on you."

"Yeah, I know," Raize admitted. "But hey. Better now than later."


	22. Christmas Memories

Chapter Twenty-Two:

Christmas Memories

Chaud knocked on Nami's door on Christmas night, aware that all five Hallissys were home and talking spiritedly.

Nami opened the door, smiling. "Hey!"

"Merry Christmas, Nami," Chaud said, stepping into the room.

"I'm so glad you came," she said softly, leading him into the living room. A small Christmas tree sat on the table, a few small gifts lay underneath it. One for each of them, plus a few for friends, he supposed. Suddenly Chaud felt guilty that he'd brought Nami something...

"Sit down," Nami said motioning for him to sit beside her on the couch. Mamoru was playing something on a fairly aged guitar. It wasn't a Christmas song, but it sounded like something malls might play around Christmastime.

"That sounds good, Mamoru," Ailee commented, walking in from the kitchen, carrying a tray of drinks. "Oh! Hey, Chaud!" She let him take a drink. "Try it! It's a new recipe!"

"It's good," Nami assured him. "Not like the curry last time, I promise."

Chaud laughed, taking a sip of the punch. "Mmm... it's really good!"

Ailee smiled. "Thanks. I'm glad it turned out better than last week's curry."

"Yeah, that was a disaster," Raize laughed.

"HEY!"

"Raize, behave," Mamoru warned him.

"Well, it WAS..."

They passed the next twenty minutes talking and laughing, listening to Mamoru and Nami play songs on the old guitar (which, Chaud learned, had been their mother's), and wondering why homework was assigned over the break.

A while later, the doorbell rang again.

"Your turn, Sean," Nami told him.

"Yeah, I know, I got it..." Sean got up to answer the door. "Oh! Hey, Terry!"

"Hi, guys!" Terry walked into the room, carrying a small package which he placed under the tree. "Merry Christmas," he added, taking a spot on the floor.

"You too... you know the skit isn't supposed to be done until February, right?" Nami asked him.

"Yeah, I know," Terry said. "Still. Better practice sooner than later."

"True!"

"How _is_ that skit coming along?" Raize asked.

"Fine. We're—"

"Out of ideas, two cast members are sick, and we haven't got a clue what we're doing," Nami corrected. "We're so dead. We'll get kicked out of drama if we don't get it finished."

"We'll get it done," Terry assured her. "Don't worry."

"Well, let's see if we can help you," Mamoru suggested, setting the guitar down.

"How?" Ailee asked. "Name off random things?"

Mamoru smiled. "Not what I had in mind, but what the heck. Let's give it a shot. What the funniest thing that's happened to everyone over the year?"

"Hmm... oh!" Nami had an idea. "This is really sort of stupid, but... ok, remember when I went shopping with Maylu and Yai to look for homecoming dresses and stuff?"

"Yeah," Chaud nodded.

"Well, there were a ton of dress racks everywhere arranged in a spiral. We were standing in the middle, and I was thinking, wouldn't it be funny if someone tipped over the first rack, and the rest fell over like dominoes?"

"Oh, god," Ailee laughed.

"Someone heard my calling or something," Nami continued, "and these two little kids ran into the store, about ten years old, right? So, the little girl pushed over the first rack, and the rest of the racks all fell over like dominoes! Then... the clerks all came over to see what happened... we sorta got in trouble... But up until _that_ it was funny," she said, smiling.

The room burst into laughter.

"_ALL _the dress racks?" Raize asked.

"All of them," Nami nodded. "Yai got a little steamed that she couldn't find a dress before they tipped over, but Maylu and I thought it was hilarious!"

"Ok... ok... my turn," Sean said. "So, you all know I work in the glass department, right?"

"Yeah..."

"I pose the question: WHY are the children's shoes on the same floor in the same general area as the glass? Why?"

"WHY do you ask?" Ailee asked.

"Because! This one little boy gets the bright idea to play football with his shoe! He threw his shoe to his friend, who missed, and the entire glass display shattered!" Sean sighed. "Guess who was on duty, too...?"

"Oh, no!" Nami cried. "That's terrible! And it's funny..."

"So it's terribly funny," Raize decided finally as everyone laughed. "What about you, Mo?"

"Hmm..." Mamoru backed off in thought. "Well... I do remember something... when I was teaching _you_ English," he said, nodding to Raize.

"Oh, not that," Raize shook his head.

"Yes, that! I was teaching him numbers," Mamoru said to the rest of the group. "So, I started with two plus two... which he said was four. Then two times two, which he also said was four. And THEN I ask him 'What's two divided by two?' and he still said four!"

"That was a mistake!" Raize said quickly. "I thought you said something else!"

"No, you just stopped paying attention," Nami agreed. "I remember that."

"Well, there's something else you'll remember then," Raize said. "Remember when we first came to visit Mamoru at that Jomon Electric store?"

"Oh, god, I've been trying to forget this," Nami sighed.

"Haha, too bad!"

"What happened?" Terry asked.

"Well, there were these two teenagers playing really loud music from a boom box. It was ANNOYING the HECK out of me," he added. "So... I went up and stood by them, and started humming really loudly."

Nami shook her head smiling. "You know, I think they actually _heard_ you, too!"

"Yeah! So they left..."

"... and he keeps humming," Nami told them to more laughter.

"I was hoping those tourists we'd seen a while before would come by and throw coins at me," Raize admitted.

"They did," Nami added.

"And I kept it!" Raize finished. "Hahaha!"

"Raize, you're insane," Ailee said, shaking her head, smiling.

"I agree," Chaud said.

"Well, what's happened to you?"

"Ok... there was a little girl staying at the inn, at the same time we were at the zoo," he began. "So, since she was staying for so long, the cook decided to let her make something in the kitchen. She made breakfast for me that first day, and of course, I tried it..."

"What was it?" Ailee asked.

"It was _supposed_ to be pancakes," Chaud said. "But... they were crunchy. Not crispy, there was something in them that _crunched_. So I asked her 'What did you put in these?' She told me, 'I put corn in the pancakes!'"

"_Corn?_" Nami asked in shock.

"Yes, corn! And then she says 'And to go with it, it's not maple syrup, it's corn syrup! I put two more eggs in it too, because I figure then I won't have to fry two more later!'!"

"Corn?... wow, even _I_ wouldn't put corn in pancakes," Raize said. "Which is saying something since I can't cook."

"No, I found out later, she put the corn in because she couldn't find the flour or the sugar. So the corn was like the flour, and she put in extra salt instead of the sugar!"

"Oh, my god, that must've been awful," Terry said, shaking his head. "Corn cakes... honestly!"

"What's happened to you?" Nami asked.

"Well... the middle of September my sister's fish drowned."

"Wha...?" Everyone was confused.

"How does a fish drown?" Chaud asked.

"I'm serious! It drowned because... ok, she loves mermaids. So we got her a mermaid statue to put in the fishbowl, right? There was an opening in the statue that little fish could swim through, but her fish wouldn't fit. So she always covered the hole with the gravel and stuff. One time, she didn't, and Fishy tried to swim through... he got stuck, and tipped the statue over, and couldn't get out! Since he couldn't breathe, he kinda drowned!"

Terry nodded. "That is probably the strangest story you will ever hear. But it is true. Fishy... has drowned."

The room burst out laughing again.

"Ok... my turn!" Ailee said. "Not too long ago, the inn was having a rat problem. So one of the preteen boys somehow catches a rat, and starts poking it."

"Poking it?" Mamoru asked.

"Yes. He was poking it. And I mean honestly, who _pokes_ a rat? Who?" She shook her head. "Anyway, so he's poking this rat he found somewhere, and it turns around and bites his finger. So of course, the kid gets really mad, and picks up the rat by the tail, and throws it against the wall!"

"That's so mean," Nami said in horror.

"I know, but the rat was ok. The little rat got up from the floor, and it started squeaking really loudly. Then, it jumped up really high in the air, and over one of those old 15th century urns the innkeeper has all over the place! It fell in the urn, and I was just watching, thinking, 'This is the funniest thing in the world!' because the kid looks in the urn, and the rat jumps out, and nips at the kid again. He didn't get hurt," she added, "but it was pretty funny to watch. For the rest of the day, all he did was try and catch the rat again."

"That's bizarre," Nami said. She turned to Terry. "Think we've got enough ideas yet?"

"Yeah," he agreed. "Speaking of drama..." He picked up the small package he'd brought in. "This is for you. Merry Christmas."


	23. Taking a Walk

Chapter Twenty-Three:

Taking a Walk

Terry handed her the package. She slowly opened it: it was a small composition book with black and blue splotches spelling out "DRAMA" on the front.

She burst out laughing as soon as she saw it.

"Wh-What?" Terry asked.

Nami shook her head, still laughing. "H-Here..." She picked up a package addressed to him, about the same size as her notebook.

Terry opened it, it was the exact same composition book.

They looked at each other, both started laughing at the same time.

"What are the odds?" Mamoru asked, amazed. "They're exactly the same!"

"I know! It's bizarre!"

"Well, since you've opened yours, I say we open ours," Raize proposed.

"Why not."

A few moments later, wrapping paper laid strewn around the room. Chaud had been right, each Hallissy had gotten one present, thoughtfully given by the rest of the family.

Finally, Raize decided to go upstairs for a moment. "I'll be right back," he said, taking the stairs three at a time.

"I've never seen someone take stairs so fast," Nami remarked. "I'd almost think he was up to something."

"He's not," Mamoru assured her, "At least, he better not be."

"Hmm... if you say so." She smiled. "I swear..."

---

"I SWEAR, she's gonna kill you!" Torch warned Raize one last time.

"I know, I know," Raize said dismissively. "Still... if I've had one good plan all year, it's this one."

"Mamoru's right, Raize," Torch said. "Why are we trying to get rid of Chaud?"

"We're not trying to get rid of him," Raize said. "We're just trying to get him away from our sister."

"But why?"

"Because," Raize sighed, "I don't want him near her!"

"Hm. Whatever... your call," Torch said, shrugging. "Where'd you put it?"

"It's right here..." Raize grinned. "This'll be so much fun..."

---

Nami let her head fall against Chaud's shoulder, at total peace with the world. Ailee was taking a turn with the guitar, Mamoru was talking spiritedly with Terry about drama stuff, and Sean was installing the PET program the others had gotten him as a gift.

"Nami..." Sean looked up, looking shocked. "You might want to move..."

"Why's that?" she asked dreamily.

"Nami, he's right," Chaud said, also looking up. "Look up," he advised.

Nami looked up. She turned red. "Raize!"

He laughed. He was sitting on the stairs, dangling mistletoe over her and Chaud. "Come on, you can NOT tell me you haven't kissed yet!"

Chaud turned red too, he and Nami quickly moved apart.

"Raize," Mamoru sighed. "Stop that..."

Raize kept laughing, but put the mistletoe in his pocket. "Just having fun!"

Mamoru shook his head. "Nami, why don't you and Chaud go for a walk?" Nami looked at Chaud, he nodded.

"Let's go." Chaud led her out the door, wondering what Mamoru was going to say to Raize.

"Chaud, I'm so sorry," Nami said once the door had shut behind them.

"It's ok," he told her. "Really. It's fine."

She sighed, her eyes downcast.

"C'mon. Let's go somewhere." She looked over at him.

"How about the park?" she asked. He smiled.

"Why not. Let's go."

The two of them walked to the park, talking about anything they could think of. Both of them kept losing the thread of the conversation, both busy thinking about something else.

It began to snow as they reached the park ten minutes later. They sat down on the bench in the park.

_It seems almost weird... the last time I was here I was with her too... this must be our spot or something_, Chaud thought, smiling.

"Chaud?"

"Hm?" He looked at her, she was staring at the ground. "What is it? Is something wrong?"

"I just... I'm sorry..."

"What for?"

"I... I don't know... I just... I don't have anything for you."

"Nami... It's ok," he said, touching her hand. "All I really wanted was some time with you."

She looked up. "Really?"

"Really."

Even though there wasn't a fire, or a blanket, Chaud felt warmer than normal as she laid her head on his shoulder. "I love you..."

"I love you too." He grasped her hand tightly in his.

Silence fell over them like the light drape of snow slowly collecting on their shoulders and in their hair. Chaud tried to think of something to say, but his mind kept wandering to other things. Why was Raize trying to get them to kiss? More importantly, how would he give Nami the small package in his vest pocket? Would she like it?

Nami was very still, Chaud realized that she was watching a small snowflake, caught on a spider's thread dangling from a tree branch above. It swayed back and forth, never breaking. It was one of those special moments, like when a butterfly lands on your arm, or a bubble lands on a dark surface, and you can see all the swirling colors.

By the time the thread broke, they had been at the park for twenty minutes.

"Do you think we should go back yet?" Nami asked.

"No... let's stay here a while longer."


	24. A Single Snowflake

Chapter Twenty-Four:

A Single Snowflake

Nami smiled. "Ok..."

They were still and silent for a while longer, then Chaud finally spoke.

"Nami, I'm so glad we met..." He draped his arm around her shoulders. "I really am..."

She took a deep breath, smiling. "So am I. Chaud, I don't know where we'd be right now if Mr. Matsu hadn't asked you to show me around school."

Chaud laughed. "Yeah! That was definitely a turning point."

"Undeniably," she added as they fell into silence again.

Finally, Sen broke the silence. "You should go back now," she told them. "You've been here for forty-five minutes!"

"Yeah... let's go," Chaud agreed, getting up. "Before Mamoru gets worried." Nami got up too; the two of them starting towards the Hallissy residence.

They were almost there when Chaud stopped underneath a streetlamp. "Nami, wait!"

She turned around. "Hm?"

"I... I have something for you." She turned pink.

"You didn't have to..."

"I know. I wanted to," he said. "Come here."

She walked slowly towards him, smiling. He started to take out the small box... but then had an idea.

"Close your eyes," he told her.

"Why?"

"It's a surprise." She looked a little suspiciously at him, but then smiled, and closed her eyes.

Chaud passed his hand in front of her face a few times, just to make sure she had really closed her eyes. When she didn't react, he smiled. _This might work after all!_

Nami heard him move closer to her, and felt him wind his arms around her neck as though he was putting something around her.

"Merry Christmas, Nami," he whispered before he pulled away from her. "You can open your eyes now."

She did, and was almost immediately pleasantly shocked. Chaud was holding a small mirror in which she could see her reflection. Around her neck was a beautiful silver necklace. A single crystalline snowflake hung around it, sparkling faintly in the moonlight.

"Chaud... it's beautiful..."

"Just like you," he said softly, putting the mirror back in the pocket. She smiled, turning her eyes downwards. "Nami...?"

"I love you, Chaud," she said, wrapping her arms around him. "I love you..."

Chaud smiled, folding an arm around her waist. He swept aside a lock of her hair so that he could see her face. Her cheeks were a perfect cross between a red from the cold, and a blushing pink. Snow fell on them, accented by the streetlamp's weak white light.

She brushed a small collection of snow off of his shoulder, smiling as he pushed the lock of her hair behind her ear. Slowly, the two of them moved closer...

The streetlamp flickered slightly as their lips met in the dim light. Chaud wound his free arm around her neck; Nami tightened her hold on him, both thinking the same thing:

_I wish this moment would last forever..._

---

They reentered the room, the others still waiting.

"That was a very long walk," Terry said suspiciously.

"We got... sidetracked," Nami said, glancing sideways at Chaud.

((A/N: Aww... how sweet! I'm sorry it took so long, and that was a short chapter too, I know! Ok, since I won't be posting for a while, I'll give you a preview of the next chapter!))

Raize was holding the mistletoe over Nami and Terry as they practiced a sketch for the next day in drama.

"Raize," Mamoru said warningly.

"Aw, c'mon Mo! Just a harmless joke!" Raize moaned, putting the sprig of mistletoe back in his pocket.

Nonetheless, in front of the rest of the room, Terry pulled Nami towards him, and kissed her on the lips.


	25. Yuletide Crisis

Chapter Twenty-Five

Yuletide Crisis

"Hey, can you do me a favor?" Raize asked Chaud.

"Um... sure," Chaud agreed. "Like what?"

"Go down to the basement and get some firewood," Raize instructed.

"I'll do it," Mamoru offered, standing up.

"No, it's ok," Chaud said, starting down the stairs. He thought vaguely about what had just happened between him and Nami.

---

"Nami, Terry, why don't you guys run your sketch?" Ailee suggested. "We might be able to help you guys out."

"Sure..." The two of them got up, starting to act out a scene.

Raize sneaked up the stairs, quietly looking over the two actors. She shook his head, laughing to himself.

"I can't believe you're gonna do this," Torch sighed. "You're nuts."

"So? If it'll get Chaud outta here, it's worth a shot."

"But— oh, whatever. It's not like you're listening."

"You are correct." Raize took the mistletoe out of his pocket again.

"You know he'll do it," Torch said. "No ifs, ands, or buts."

"I know."

"So STOP before you get killed."

"No!"

---

Chaud took the stairs back up, firewood in his hands. He sighed, still thinking. _I can't believe it... this is the BEST Christmas I've ever had... and that tournament starts tomorrow too! _He smiled to himself, imagining what sort of competition he and Nami would face together.

When he opened the door from the basement, he saw a quite interesting scene. Raize was holding the mistletoe over Nami and Terry as they practiced a sketch for drama.

"Raize," Mamoru said warningly.

"Aw, c'mon Mo! Just a harmless joke!" Raize moaned, putting the sprig of mistletoe back in his pocket.

"It is _not _a harmless joke," Mamoru snapped.

Nonetheless, in front of the rest of the room, Terry pulled Nami towards him, and kissed her on the lips.

He watched in shock and relief as Nami pushed Terry away from her, looking almost as shocked as Chaud felt. Mamoru let his head fall into the palm of his hand, looking as though he could have burnt something just by looking at it. Raize, however, was laughing quietly to himself.

Chaud strode into the room, dropped the firewood at Raize's feet, and demanded, "WHAT is going on!"

"Nothing," Raize choked out, still laughing. "Nothing—"

"Terry, I'm afraid I must ask you to leave," Mamoru said in a low voice. "Now."

Terry nodded, glared defiantly at Chaud, and left without further words.

Nami sank down onto the chair behind her, absolutely shocked speechless.

"Nami..." Sean was still in the corner, looking shocked as well. "What... are you..."

Nami looked up at Raize, absolutely livid. "Raize!"

"Oh, shoot!" Raize ran up the stairs three at a time, dashed into his room, and slammed the door shut.

"Raize, why do you do this...?" Mamoru stood up. "I'm sorry, but it appears as though this little 'party' is over..."

"I'll go now," Chaud offered.

"Please do. But, before you leave... you might want to look under the tree."

"Huh?" He knelt down by the tree, seeing one last package. A note was attached:

"To Chaud:

Open this at home.

–From the Hallissys (but especially Nami)"

"I... well..." He looked back at Nami, her face was hidden in her hands. "Nami?"

"Hm?" She looked up, slightly afraid.

"Nami..." Chaud smiled at her. "I love you. No matter what happens."

She looked relieved. "I love you too, Chaud... and you'd better be ready for that tournament tomorrow!"

"Absolutely!" He left the house, the small package in his hands. It felt almost like a book...?

((A/N: I am SO sorry I haven't posted in a million years, and that this is sooo short, but this next chapter is cataclysmic! I swear!))


	26. Family Feud

Chapter Twenty-Six

Family Feud

Mamoru stormed up to Raize's room well after Chaud had left. Ailee was in Nami's room talking to her, and Sean was in his room alone, obviously not going to come out for fear of injury. When fighting within the family happened, it had to have been BAD.

"Raize!"

"What?" Raize's voice demanded.

"Open the door."

"No!"

"Open it or I will break it down. And you KNOW I can do that."

"Rrr..." Raize opened the door, looking disgruntled. "What?"

Mamoru sighed. "What on earth do you think you are doing?"

"Doing?" Raize laid face down on his bed, mumbling something.

"I can't understand you when you do that," Mamoru pointed out. Raize sat up.

"I said, I don't know what the problem is."

Mamoru shook his head. "You are completely aware that Nami and Chaud are going out, correct?"

"Yeah."

"And you are completely aware that Nami and Terry are just friends because of that, correct?"

"Again. Yeah."

"AND you are also completely aware that Terry still likes Nami?"

"The whole WORLD is aware of that."

"Then, I ask you: WHY did you do that to her tonight?" Mamoru demanded.

"I don't know."

"Yes, you do. I know you do," Mamoru said.

"I know I do too. But I sure as heck am NOT gonna tell you."

"Well then, I suppose I'll just have to stay here until you do." He sat down on a stool, and leaned against the wall, folding his arms.

Raize was quiet for a full ten minutes before cracking. "I don't want him near her!"

"Who?"

"Chaud! Near Nami! You don't want her near him either, do you?" Raize half-shouted.

"It doesn't matter to me now," Mamoru said. "Why does it matter to you?"

"Because! I didn't know Terry when I told her that I thought she and Chaud would be perfect!"

"And now...?"

"Now I wish I had just kept my mouth shut and told her to wait for someone else," Raize said.

"But that wouldn't be keeping your mouth shut."

"SO? I don't want her seeing him!"

"Why not? We know that it's dangerous," Mamoru admitted, "but we also know that Chaud will protect her."

"But she doesn't NEED him!" Raize snapped. "She doesn't! She can protect herself!"

"If she could, Chaud wouldn't have had to get involved with all the various 'things' that they've been through," Mamoru said.

"But... but..." Raize struggled to think of a counterargument, but couldn't.

"That's not it, is it?"

"No..."

"Then what is it?" Mamoru asked softly. "You were all for her going out with him before, why's it so different now?"

"I... he's... he's taking her away from us," Raize sighed, his voice breaking. "I... I never see her anymore. At least, not as much as I used to! I miss when it was just the five of us!"

"When we didn't have any friends?"

"No! When we had each other... when we didn't NEED friends!"

"We always had the Meuniers," Mamoru reminded him.

"Yeah... but... they were family friends..."

"And that's different?"

"YES!"

"You have friends here, Raize. You've got Allen."

"Yeah. But... that's different," Raize declared.

"How so?"

"I... I don't know. But it is!"

Mamoru shook his head. "Look. So she's got friends. Well, so do you! Doesn't it matter that she even has friends at all?"

"Of course it matters!"

"Then what's with this sudden change of attitude? You really wanted her to be with him. If I recall correctly, you said that she should do what felt right to her."

"But— that was before Terry— and I mean... I don't know! But... I think..." He shook his head, shutting his eyes. "I just... I feel like... he's taking her away from us... and that... that we'll never be able to have those times like we used to have!"

Mamoru frowned. "So... you think Chaud is taking Nami away and tearing her away from this family?"

"YES!" Raize nodded emphatically. "That's it EXACTLY..."

"Then... but..." For once, Mamoru had no idea what to say.

"Wow. I shocked you speechless?"

"Pretty much... but I still don't get it... it's not like they're married or anything."

"Not yet," Raize snapped.

"Hey!" Mamoru shot back. "You don't know that!"

"Why doesn't it matter to you anymore?" Raize demanded.

"It doesn't matter because she really loves him," Mamoru said simply.

"Huh...?" Mamoru laughed.

"Oh my God. You're nuts. I can't believe you didn't see it."

"What? See what?"

"Chaud and Nami. They love each other. Really and truly."

"I... but..."

"You, as her brother, would know that this is something she's been dreaming about since... since... forever," Mamoru guessed.

"Not after the whole Syndicate thing," Raize muttered.

"Yes, even after that," Mamoru said quickly. "And you know you shouldn't talk about that. Especially not here."

"THIS is EXACTLY why I don't want him around her! If he found out, he'd turn her in as fast as anything!"

"That may be. But if all goes well, her systems will return to normal... soon... But if not, he'll never find out. Trust me."

"HOW CAN YOU BE SO SURE?" Raize demanded, throwing himself down on his bed. "There's no way you can be sure that they won't come back for her!"

"We managed to throw them off for this long," Mamoru assured him. "Everything will be fine."

"Fine! You KNOW why our parents died!"

"I do. And so does everyone else in this broken up not-even-a-family. But that's not important. Leave Nami and Chaud's relationship alone, or I will have to MAKE you do so."


	27. Little Problems

Chapter Twenty-Seven

Little Problems

"Yes."

"No."

"Yes!"

"No!"

"PLEASE yes!"

"Absolutely NOT!"

Nami lay in bed, listening to Ailee and Mamoru arguing. It was a very _loud _argument; she was amazed that Sean and Raize could sleep through it.

"Then again, they're boys," she said to herself, burying her face in her pillow.

Turning over, she clapped her hands over her ears, attempting (and failing) to block out the sounds of her siblings from downstairs.

"He deserves to know the truth, Mamoru!" Ailee snapped. "You know he does!"

Removing the pillow from underneath her head, she held it tightly to one ear, pressing the other against the mattress, squeezing her eyes shut.

"If he knew the truth, it would break his heart, not to mention get all of us arrested!" Mamoru shot back. "You just have to trust me when I say that THEY won't come back!"

"But that's just it!" Ailee shouted. "What if THEY do?"

"If THEY do, we can shake them off," Mamoru said dismissively. "We've done it twice before, it's not impossible, Ailee!"

"But Moru, what about the CONSEQUENCES?" Ailee demanded. "The first time we lost Angel, and the second time we lost Mom and Dad! You KNOW who they're after now, I know you do!"

Giving up hope of blocking out the fight, Nami sat up, wrapped the big fuzzy blanket around her twice, and lay back against the wall by her bed, placing the pillow behind her head.

"It doesn't matter," Mamoru said dismissively after a pause.

"Doesn't MATTER?" Ailee repeated, hysterical. "She is our SISTER, Mamoru! You of all people need to protect her! You, _Monsieur_, are the head of our household since Mom and Dad died!"

"You don't think I'm AWARE of that already?"

"By the way you're acting, you're obviously not!"

Mamoru sighed. "Look. Ailee. I care about Nami. I do."

"But...?"

"But, Nami and Chaud are SO made for each other, breaking both of their hearts is worse that telling them the truth about what happened that night!" Mamoru said.

"Moru, you're always preaching truth and honesty, but now..." Ailee broke off.

"And YOU are always telling us that having a person, just ONE person, that really loves you is more important that the materialistic views society presents these days that tell otherwise," Mamoru pointed out.

"I know, but... but..."

"Have you _seen _the looks he gives her?" Mamoru demanded. "And the way she looks at him? Have you not _noticed _the chemistry they have between them? Do you not _realize _what an amazing team they'll make someday?"

"I... well, yes, but—"

"Especially at this point in time, we shouldn't tell them. If word got out about Nami, there would be panic. The godforsaken media would be putting out all sorts of things about her, starting all kinds of rumors and lies about her, about us! Not to mention if and when Chaud finds out, he would be as good as dead!"

"What... do you mean?"

"You. Have. Not. Met. His. Father," Mamoru said, dark and deliberate.

"Oh... is it really that bad?"

"Bad? When he called me to see him the other day when you and Nami were shopping and Sean was at work, I found out all sorts of things," Mamoru said. "Apart from being very powerful business-wise, he is very, very, VERY smart. He's guessed almost everything about her."

"ALMOST?"

"Apart from lineage, heritage, and nationality, he was pretty much spot on," Mamoru said. "He told me that if they weren't broken up by today, he'd take... 'drastic measures' to get them apart."

"Wow. He must really hate us."

"You THINK?" Mamoru paused for a moment. "If it wasn't such a grave subject, I'd applaud him or something..."

Slowly, the argument burned itself out, and Nami fell asleep...

---

The next day, Nami woke up feeling a little depressed. She would probably run into Terry sometime that day... With a sigh, she turned over in her bed, looking at the clock. 2:03 AM.

_Great. I'm exhausted, AND I've got insomnia._ She pulled the covers up to her chin, shutting her eyes tightly.

"That's not going to help you sleep."

Nami sat up, alarmed. "M-Mamoru!"

He smiled from her doorway. "Can't sleep either, huh?"

She shook her head. "I can't. I..."

"Look at it like this," Mamoru suggested. "It's Raize's fault."

Nami cracked a little smile in spite of herself. "Isn't it always..."

Mamoru laughed. "The point being, you didn't do anything wrong."

"That's not what I'm worried about," she admitted. "I... I'm just worried about what Chaud's going to do... I mean..."

"Yeah," Mamoru nodded, "he can get a little... protective... sometimes."

"Especially around Terry. And I'm afraid someone might get hurt," Nami said. "I don't want him to think I don't love him, and I don't want Terry to think that I like HIM, and..." She shook her head, frustrated. "Aaah, I'm confusing myself!"

"Did you hear anything last night?" Mamoru asked quietly after a delicate pause.

"How could I NOT? It was pretty loud," Nami admitted.

Mamoru sighed. "I'm sorry. We were both mad, and... well... you know us. We get out of hand sometimes."

"Yeah... I hope I don't see Terry tomorrow..."

"I'm so sorry Raize did that to you," Mamoru said, sitting down beside her on the bed.

"Don't apologize, you didn't do anything."

"Yes, I did. I told him not to mess up your present to Chaud the other day," Mamoru told her. "So his little 'issue' got out that way instead."

"Greeeeat..."

"Hey, get some sleep," Mamoru said. "You've got a tournament tomorrow, and it'd probably be best if you weren't dead tired."

Nami smiled. "Yeah... night."

"Good night, Nami."

Mamoru left, closing the door behind him.

"Do you think Chaud meant it?" Nami asked Sen. "When he said he loved me no matter what?"

"Absolutely," Sen said sleepily. "Get some rest, you know I can't go to sleep until you do."

"I know... I'm sorry..."

"And yes. I'm positive he meant it. And present or no, I think he really had a great time with you tonight," Sen added slyly.

"Shut up!"

"Go to sleep!"

---

Chaud woke up at 6:30 the next morning, feeling strangely refreshed. He lay in bed for a while before remembering the gift he'd gotten.

Not bothering to get out of his warm bed, he reached over to his desk, picking up the small package.

A moment later, wrapping paper lay strewn at the edge of his bed, and Chaud was silently leafing through a book. It was the photo album he had seen strewn on the floor and burned a few days ago. "I... can't believe she did this..."

The pictures were torn, and some were a little burnt, but so magnificently pieced back together it was almost unbelievable. There were very few pictures of him and Nami together (since they both hated having their pictures taken), but the few that were there were amazing.

As he reached the end of the album, a hand-drawn picture and a letter fell out of the pages.

The letter, from Mamoru, read:

'Chaud—

All I can say to you is that you've really made Nami's life one whole heck of a lot better by being her friend. The rest of us too! We all wish you a merry Christmas (and lots of love from Nami).

--Your friends,

MARSN'

"MARSN?" Chaud asked no one in particular. "Why didn't they sign their names... oh!"

It was their initials in order of birth. Mamoru, Ailee, Raize, Sean, and Nami.

"Wow... I... huh?" There was a postscript :

'P.S : Nami drew the picture while she was in the hospital after the Sunayama thing.

--M.'

"Ok..." Chaud picked up the picture, almost immediately pleasantly surprised.

It was the picture of him.

"Nami..." Letting the picture fall into his lap, he looked up at his ceiling, falling backwards onto his pillow. "Nami... I love you."


	28. Let the Games Begin

Chapter Twenty-Eight:

Let the Games Begin

Chaud raced through getting ready that morning, so much so that even his father noticed.

"Chaud, what's the hurry?" Mr. Blaze asked curiously, looking up as Chaud came speeding down the stairs.

"Gotta go somewhere," Chaud said quickly.

"Where?"

"Friend's," Chaud said.

"Which friend?"

Chaud skidded to a halt at the door, sighing. "Why do you need to know?"

"In case I need you," his father said innocently.

"I'll be at Nami's," Chaud said without thinking.

Mr. Blaze's eyes flashed dangerously. "I thought I told you not to hang around that girl!"

"Well, too bad. We're in a tournament together as a team," Chaud said, bolting out the door before his father could stop him, thinking only of the photo album, the letter, and the picture...

A moment later, he was running through the fresh snow towards Nami's house, leaving a lonely impression of his footprints in the otherwise untouched white blanket of snow.

He knocked on Nami's door, she answered it almost at once.

"Hi, Chaud!" She smiled, letting him in. "You're a little earlier than I thought you'd be," she said, closing the door behind him. "I was expecting you in about ten minutes."

"Well, I thought I'd surprise you," he said, grasping her hands and pulling her towards him. "I love you."

She blushed pink. "I love you, too..."

ProtoMan decided to interrupt, "You guys better get going. Emails tell us that the tournament is starting in a half hour."

"Where?" Nami asked.

"Dendome," Sen said, "and they sent you tickets for the new transit system thingy..."

"Well then, let's go before we miss the 'transit system thingy'," Nami suggested, laughing.

---

Ten minutes later, the sleek bullet train slid to a halt at the Dendome station.

"That... was awesome," Sen admitted.

"It was indeed... where are we supposed to go from here?" Chaud asked.

"Good question," Nami said. "I guess that why we're here so early: so we can find out!"

Chaud smiled. "Then let's find out."

They set out together, scouting for information when a little girl caught their attention.

"Who are you?" the little girl asked curiously, staring up at them.

"Um..."

"My name's Nami, and this is Chaud," Nami said, smiling. "What's your name?"

"My name's Yuko. And I think I'm your first match," she added as a sort of afterthought. "Me and Tetsu!"

"Tetsu?"

"Sound familiar?" A tall man that easily towered over them walked up to them, evidently chasing Yuko around. "I was in the N1 too."

"Oh!" Nami's eyes lit up. "You _were_! You got pretty far, too, didn't you?"

"I could probably have gone against one of you, if it wasn't for that creep Sunayama," Tetsu agreed. "What a loser. Glad he's not in this one... at least, I don't THINK he is!"

"He's locked up in jail," Chaud assured him. "And he's not coming out for a _verrry_ long time."

"Oh, good... c'mon, Yuko, your father's getting worried about you." Tetsu picked Yuko up easily, placing her on his shoulder. "I look forward to this fight. And if you're looking for the sign-in whatchamacallit, it's in the atrium."

"Thanks!"

Tetsu walked off with Yuko.

"Well... that was... interesting," Chaud sighed. "Let's go find the... _whatchamacallit_."

"Oh, lighten up!" Nami giggled, knocking him lightly on the head. "It's a tournament! We're all here to have fun!"

"Fun. Yeah." When Nami didn't respond, he noticed that she was looking doubtfully at him, arms crossed.

"I can hit you harder if you want," she offered. "Or you can tell me what's up."

"Nothing," he said quickly.

"Nothing," she repeated blankly.

"Not a thing," he said, nodding.

"Chaud, you are SUCH a bad liar." Chaud hung his head in shame.

"I know..."

"That's gonna kill you someday," ProtoMan agreed.

"Hey, YOU stay outta this one!" Chaud snapped.

"So what's wrong?" Nami demanded, walking toward the atrium Tetsu had directed them to.

"I ran out on my dad again today."

"Chaud! Again?" Sen sighed. "Sooner or later you're gonna have to talk to him and work all these issues out."

"I know, and they're not _issues_," Chaud snapped. "They're... um... I... hm. I'm not sure, but they're NOT issues!"

Nami laughed. "So maybe they're not. But whatever they are, you father has issues about your... _not_-issues."

"Whatever..."

"Anything else?" Nami asked.

Chaud stopped for a moment, watching her walk away. "Are you SURE you're not psychic or something?"

She smiled. "Positive. What?"

"I'm worried..."

"How is this new? You're _always_ worried."

"I am not!" he protested, running to catch up. "I just... the last time we were in a tournament you got hurt."

"Because of Sunayama, and nothing like that is going to happen because, like you said—"

"I know, he's locked up and all, but maybe—"

"Maybe for once, you need to let loose and have fun," Nami suggested, her hands on her hips.

"But..."

"But nothing."

Chaud sighed. "Fine. I'll stop worrying if you stop reading my mind."

Nami smiled. "Agreed. Now let's get that whatchamacallit!"

---

Around noon, they were still hanging around the Dendome, having nothing else to do but wait until their match times were announced.

"We could go home," Sen suggested.

"We _could_, but then we _would_ miss our times," Chaud pointed out.

"True..."

"I'm going to get a drink," Nami sighed, getting up from the bench they were sitting on. "Be right back."

"'K..."

She had only been gone for a few moments when Chaud heard her voice:

"Let me GO!"

"Nami?" Springing up, he whipped around, looking for her. Two muggers had grabbed her, and were dragging her away.

"HEY!" He dashed after them, and got a door slammed in his face. "NAMI!"

"What's up?" Tetsu had rounded the corner, hearing all the commotion. "What's wrong?"

"These two men got Nami and locked us out!" ProtoMan explained.

"Two guys, huh...?" Tetsu suddenly looked outraged. "I know those guys! And if they think they're gonna pick on her..." Tetsu rammed his shoulder into the door, easily breaking it down.

Inside, a very unusual scene played before them. One of the two men was on the ground, apparently unconscious. The other was still attempting to hit Nami, but to no avail. She swatted her assailant on the head with what appeared to be a broken off wooden chair leg.

"N-Nami!" Tetsu gasped in shock as the goon fell to the floor, unconscious.

She looked around. "Oh, hi!"

"Oh, hi? That's it!" Chaud demanded. "You had me really worried!"

"Um... thanks for opening the door?" she tried, turning around. "And you said you wouldn't worry."

"H-How did you...?" Tetsu stared at the two unconscious men on the floor of the abandoned room. "What did you hit them with?"

"A broken chair leg," she told them, tossing it over her shoulder.

"You _broke_ a _chair_?"

"No. They threw it up against the wall several times, and it fell off," Nami corrected.

"You know, you could get disqualified for violence, Nami," Sen alerted her.

"Well, what would YOU have done?" she demanded. "And for the record, they hit me first, so technically it'd be _self-defense_."

"They hit you!" Tetsu asked at once. "Where?"

"Just on the back of the head a couple times," she sighed, rubbing the spot. "Honestly, if they'd hit me any harder I would've passed out."

"But... those guys are pretty tough," Tetsu said. "Maybe you should get it checked out..."

"I'll be fine," she insisted. "I promise...!" One of the men had gotten up without them realizing, and shoved Nami down into the snow outside.

"Hey!" Tetsu let fly a barrage of blows on the attacking flunky, enough to send him flying back into the room... just as a Tournament administrator walked past them.

"What on earth is going on back here!" the administrator asked in total shock.

"Umm..."

"Mr. Tetsu! Please explain yourself!" the administrator demanded, seeing the two unconscious men in the room.

Nami started to speak, but Tetsu cut her off. "I'm sorry, sir, there was a bit of a scuffle back here—"

"A scuffle? This looks more like a full-out fight to me! I'm letting you off with a warning, but next time you get caught using violence outside of a match, you're disqualified!"

The administrator walked away, fuming, while Chaud helped Nami up.

"You could have told him what really happened," Nami said to Tetsu. "You could have told him that I did that."

"But the only thing he saw was me hitting that guy," Tetsu sighed. "And let's face it. Who'd believe that a fourteen-year-old girl whipped two twenty-one-year-old guys? No offense..."

"None taken, but..."

"He wouldn't have believed me if I told him what happened. And even if he did, we'd both be disqualified. At least this way I only got a warning."

"Well... let's keep it clean until the tournament, and that way it can stay as a warning and not a disqualification," Sen said quickly.

"What did those buffoons want with you, anyway?" Chaud asked Nami.

"This'll sound pretty out there, but... they wanted 50,000 Zennys."

"WHAAAAT!"

"I know," she said calmly. "It was pretty... scary."

"Scary? Those guys always do that kinda stuff," Tetsu sighed. "Shake innocent people down for these unheard of amounts of money."

"No joke... hey! What's going on?"

A group of people had gathered around the doors of the Atrium, apparently the tournament matchup times were finally done.

"I'll go take a look," Nami offered, quickly slipping through the crowd.

"First those guys, now this... Is she _human_?" Tetsu asked in amazement.

"Sometimes I'm not totally sure..."

---

The tournament was set up so that there would be two simultaneous matches happening at the same time, both using half of the same field. That day, there would be four teams eliminated, and the tournament would continue the next day.

"Wonder why they're having two matches at once? Seems a little redundant," Nami sighed. "In any case. We're up first, in the... second half."

"Which half is the second half?"

She shrugged. "Your guess is as good as mine."

"They'll probably tell us... so. Let's go!"


	29. Match 1

Chapter Twenty-Nine

Match 1

"Where to?" Nami asked in total confusion as the crowd of audience members nearly bowled them over as it got close to the match time.

"No idea..."

"Hi— guys!" Yuko smiled. She was jumping up and down in order to make herself heard.

"Hey, Yuko!" Nami called back, waving too.

"Have— you guys— seen— Tetsu?" Yuko asked between jumps.

"Um... not for a while, why?" Chaud asked.

"He's— gone and— we need— to get ready!" Yuko explained, still jumping, her ponytail flying in various directions.

"We'll find him for you," Nami offered. "But you'd better stay here."

"That's— so nice— of you— thanks— you guys!" Yuko finally stopped jumping, out of breath, rushing into the participant's "waiting room".

"We'd better find him soon, or we'll all miss the match," Nami said.

"True... think we should split up?" Chaud asked. "I can search Electown and you can search around here."

"But that's pointless since we know he's not here," Nami pointed out. "You can search Electown, and I'll search around the tram stations."

"Good plan. Send me a message if you find anything!"

With that, the pair of them ran off in opposite directions.

---

"The last time we saw him was about an hour ago... how far could he have gone?" Chaud wondered aloud, walking through the Jomon Electric store for the fifth time.

"Hey, Chaud, need something?"

"Hm?" Looking around, Chaud saw Mamoru, having forgotten that he worked there. "Hey Mamoru. Have you seen—"

"That really big guy?" Mamoru guessed. "Yeah, he passed by not too long ago. But these two shady guys snatched his PET and booked it pretty quickly."

"Do you know where they went?"

"Nope," Mamoru said with a shake of his head. "Good luck though."

"Thanks..."

"Chaud, look over there!" ProtoMan said suddenly. "Just outside the door!"

Tetsu was still in Electown, apparently, and was being beat on by the two men from before, but he wasn't fighting back. And apparently, the two men had friends. A _lot_ of friends.

"Tetsu!" Chaud dashed out the doors while ProtoMan sent Nami and Sen a message. "Tetsu, get out of there!"

"I can't!" Tetsu shouted back, backing up against the outside wall of the Jomon store. "No violence or I'm out!"

"What's going on!" Chaud demanded, running in to rescue Tetsu. "You're sending so many people after ONE guy! You people are insane!"

"Official!" one of them gasped. "Run for it!"

The goons all ran off in various directions, one of them dropping Tetsu's PET. ((A/N: I know, I know... that was a REALLY bad way to get him out of that. Well too bad! Let's get on with the match!))

Chaud shook his head, almost embarrassed, picking up Tetsu's PET. "That was... less than anticlimactic."

"But still. Thanks," Tetsu sighed. "Man... when's the match?"

"In five minutes," Chaud informed him, checking the clock. "Let's go, Yuko and Nami are probably waiting for us!"

---

"Where are they?" Nami wondered, pacing around the waiting room with Yuko. Yuko jumped up on a bench, looking at Nami at eye level.

"You're being... peer-a-noyd," she sounded out.

"Paranoid. And no, I'm not being paranoid."

"Yeah you are. You've been pacing around like that for two whole minutes! I counted!" she added proudly.

"Sure," she sighed. "Two minutes isn't that long..."

"Heeey!" The girls looked up, Tetsu and Chaud came running out of the tram station. "We late yet!" Tetsu shouted.

"Not yet!" Yuko shouted back, hopping off the bench. "Where were you?"

"Electown," Tetsu told her. "Someone wanted... to talk to me."

"Oh," Yuko nodded, her eyes wide. "Did they want 'unheard of amounts of money'?"

Laughing, the four walked into the stadium as the match was announced.

---

"Welcome to the first round of the Den Tech City Battle Tournament!" the announcer broadcast to the crowd that was crammed into the stadium to watch. "Our first matches today will begin momentarily. First, please welcome our first group of competitors!"

The doors opened, leading from the waiting room to the actual Dendome. Brilliant lights and booming applause cheered them up the steel ramp and onto the battle field, a little above the audience.

"Ladies and gentlemen, please welcome our first two teams, Tetsu and Yuko facing off against Chaud and Nami!"

More cheers rang out when their names were announced.

"Looks like we already have a tournament favorite!" the announcer marveled.

"Us? Already?" Nami whispered to Chaud when the crowd's attention turned to the other battlers.

"I guess so," he sighed.

"Must be left over from the whole anticlimactic N1 ending," Nami agreed.

"Then let's make sure they won't regret favoring us." Chaud smiled.

"And now... let me remind competitors that the last man standing is the winner!" the announcer re-announced. "Let's get started with this already!"

Two sort of portable dimensional areas rose into existence as the eight contenders crossfused.

"You'd better not go easy on me just cuz I'm little!" Yuko shot at them, crossing her arms. It was true, her head barely came to Tetsu's waist.

"Oh, I believe it," Nami agreed, "and I won't!"

"Good!" Yuko started jumping up and down until Tetsu stopped her.

"Save all that energy for the match, Yuko," he advised. "I think we're gonna need it to put up a good fight!"

"Oh goody! When do we get to start?" Yuko asked, completely hyper.

"In a minute, Yuko," Tetsu assured her.

"Think we can pull this off?" Chaud asked.

"Honestly?" Nami asked. "You, who is the world-renowned Official, and me, who just recently whacked two twenty-one-year-old tough guys? I think we've got a good shot," she agreed. Chaud smiled.

"Good point."

"Why? You nervous?" she prodded at him.

"Course not," he said lightly. "Why would I be?"

"Because your dad's right there watching us," Nami pointed out, motioning to the commentator's glass box high in the corner.

Looking up, Chaud saw this to be true. "Well, thanks, I am now!"

"In retrospect, wouldn't it have been worse if he'd found you AFTER the match and you didn't know about it?"

"Fair point..."

The match timer above them showed a 3, a 2, then a 1...

A very loud buzzer sounded as all eight participants bounded into action.

"You guys better be ready for this!" Tetsu shouted at them, rushing towards them, leaving Yuko on defense.

"Oh, we're MORE than ready!" Nami leapt up, showering him with shuriken stars. Tetsu guarded a little too late, getting a full-on blow.

"You're gonna pay for that one!" he growled at her, lunging after her, leaving Chaud to deal with Yuko.

"Whee-hee-hee! Try and catch me, Chaud!" Yuko squealed, dashing around and around the field.

"You're on!" He chased after her, rapidly shooting at her with a spread-shot.

"EEP!" she screamed as one of the shots actually hit her. "Owie... that hurt!" she snapped, dashing at Chaud with a sword in hand.

"Hey, swords are MY thing!" he shot at her, producing his own. Within moments they were locked in a fierce swordfight. For an eight-year-old, Yuko wasn't half bad. In the back of his mind, Chaud vaguely wondered how Nami was faring against Tetsu.

"HOLD STILL!" Tetsu shouted in frustration, still trying to catch Nami.

"Now, why would I do that?" Nami asked, right behind him. "So I can lose this match? I think NOT!" She pelted him with more shuriken stars, then disappeared in a ball of dark energy.

"Rrr! Get back here and fight me!" Tetsu demanded, spinning around.

"Okay, but you asked for it!" Nami appeared in front of him this time, blasting him with her dark energy.

"HEY!" Tetsu fell backwards, disoriented. "Not fair!"

"Is SO fair, otherwise I'd be disqualified," Nami pointed out, high in the air and in the process of raining down shuriken stars.

"Okay, THAT'S it!" Tetsu scrambled further backwards to avoid the stars, and managed to summon a few minor-threat viruses.

"That's IT?" Nami asked, watching the little viruses moving slowly away from Tetsu towards her. "Wow."

"That didn't come out right..."

"_Your_ problem, not mine!" Nami decided, deleting the viruses. But in doing so, she had given Tetsu enough time to conjure up more deadly viruses. "Oh, boy..."

The resulting crash of the viruses' attacks reverberated around the field, jolting Yuko and Chaud.

"What was that?" Chaud asked, pausing for a moment.

"GOTCHA!" Yuko shrieked, slashing him with her sword.

"Hey!" Chaud was sent flying across the field, slamming into the dimensional area walls.

"Having trouble, Yuko?" Tetsu asked, backing her up.

"Not a bit!" Yuko called back, jumping up and down. "I hit him! And I didn't get in trouble!"

"Cuz you're SUPPOSED to hit him, Yuko..."

"Need some help?" Nami dropped close to Chaud, helping him up. "We're in trouble, now," she informed him. There were viruses attempting to close in on them; the pair of them started running after Yuko and Tetsu, still trying to avoid the viruses to keep from wasting chips. Nami tossed shuriken stars over her shoulder at random, sometimes completely missing the viruses.

Once they reached the center, they stopped, out of breath and completely surrounded. They were going to have to fight.

"Oh, boy..." Nami and Chaud stood back to back, completely overwhelmed.

"Well... any ideas?" Nami asked, in a defensive position.

"At the moment?"

Chaud looked around them, there was no way either one of them could overpower them all at once... "You?"

"Working on it..." She thought for a moment, then seemed to hit a conclusion. "How are you with heights?"

"Um... okay... why—?"

"Just go with it!" she told him. She created an orb of dark energy that lifted them up off the ground as the viruses closed the small circle where they'd been.

"WHAT are you DOING?" he demanded.

"Get out your sword, and get ready to fall," Nami told him calmly. "Delete as many as you can."

"What are you—!" Before he had time to ask what she was planning on doing, the orb disappeared, and he fell, understanding what she had been planning just in time. He attacked the viruses, deleting the vast majority in one swipe. Nami followed him, deleting the rest, taking Yuko and Tetsu completely by surprise.

"OHNO!" Yuko shrieked, ducking as Nami barely missed landing on her head.

Nami and Chaud regrouped together behind Tetsu and Yuko, both of whom whipped around upon noticing that they were under fire. Chaud gave Nami a quick boost into the air, where she pelted their opponents with her stars.

"OWOWOWOWOWOW!" Yuko fell over, dizzy, and finally shook her head. "Owies... I don't wanna fight no more..." She fell backwards, knocked out.

"Yuko!" Tetsu skidded to a halt, also disoriented. "It's two on one now... MAN, I'm in trouble..."

"You could put up a fight," Nami suggested, readying her shuriken.

"Or you could surrender," Chaud added, raising his sword. "But what fun would _that_ be?"

"You're right. I think I'll FIGHT!" Tetsu attempted to call up more viruses, but not fast enough.

"NOT AGAIN!" Chaud snapped, rushing him before the viruses actually appeared. Nami took care of the few remaining viruses...

...and the match was theirs. Tetsu went flying, hitting the barrier and sliding down just before it disappeared, both matches having been finished. Nami and Chaud smiled at each other, both breathing a sigh of relief. That had been a little harder than they'd thought.

"And here you have your quarterfinal winners!" the announcer called from the box high above.

In the other half of the field, Chaud thought he got a glimpse of a blue hat. Terry.

In his slight loss of concentration, he heard noises.

"C'mon, Yuko, get up!" Tetsu was half-shouting. The little girl hadn't moved. She just lay there on the ground.

"You don't think we hurt her, do you?" Nami was asking worriedly.

"No, I'm fine!" Yuko suddenly rose five feet into the air, shining. Floating. "I didn't feel a thing."

"Y-Yuko!" Nami gasped, stepping back. "I... you... huh?"

"What's going on?" Chaud asked, also confused.

"It's ok," Yuko said, understanding. "I figured this would happen. Look... I'm not alive."

"Oh my god... we killed you?" Nami asked, horrorstricken.

"NONONO! It's not that, I promise," Yuko assured them, "I died a _looong_ time ago. When I was four... the Black Assassin killed me."

A sharp intake of breath was heard around the stadium. The Black Assassin dared to kill a child?

"Yes," Yuko said solemnly. "I'm a ghost. I've been a ghost for four years. I was too young, you see. I hadn't seen the world, so I haven't passed on yet... but now I think I will," she told them matter-of-factly. "Thanks for such a great match!" And with that, Yuko rose higher and higher as a bright light filled the room...

When the light subsided, Yuko was gone.

"Oh... Yuko..." Nami gazed up at the ceiling, holding back tears. "That... that's terrible..."

"Nami..." Chaud moved towards her, then remembered his father's strict warnings, paired with the fact that he was watching every move he made.

Suddenly Nami moved towards Tetsu.

"Tetsu?"

"Yeah?" He looked down at her, she made no reply. She was closely examining him, then finally poked him hard on the arm. "OW! What!" Tetsu demanded, moving away from her.

"_You're_ not a ghost too, are you?" she asked suspiciously.

"Of course not!" he snapped at her. "If I was, you think I'd've gone with her...!"

Nami smiled. "Yeah... yeah."

"She was right though," Tetsu remarked. "Great match, you guys. You two have better teamwork than I've seen in a while."

Chaud laughed a little, moving forward. "You and Yuko weren't half bad, either."

"You're just being nice, aren't you?" Tetsu asked. "Aw, whatever. Good luck. And if you don't win this thing, I will find you and make your lives miserable, you hear? Go on and win this tournament thing!" Tetsu gave them a sort of informal salute, and left.

"Let's go, Nami," Chaud said. "One match down."

---

Outside, Chaud lost track of Nami in the crowds exiting the Dendome. Instead, he quite literally ran into Terry.

"Imagine meeting YOU here," Terry snapped.

"You _could_ be polite," Chaud shot back.

"You're right, I _could_. But I _won't_ be."

Chaud rolled his eyes. "Have you seen Nami?"

"Lose her already?"

"Look, have you seen her or not!" Chaud demanded, getting very impatient.

"No. And from what I keep seeing in the press, you're not supposed to be around her," Terry informed him with a smirk.

"The press?"

"Media. News. Whatever you call it," Terry affirmed. "Your pop had some sort of interview. He's being _verry_ clear that he doesn't want her around you after this tournament's over. And he's also quite sure you'll win... without her help."

"But..." This sort of news blew Chaud away.

"It's true," ProtoMan added, horrified. "You're getting about a million emails about it..."

Chaud frowned, shutting his eyes. "Delete them all... they're the last thing we need."

"You don't want to be doing that," Terry advised.

Not wanting to ask but knowing he had to, Chaud asked, "WHY don't I want to delete all this junk?"

"Because. If you delete all that, they'll go to Nami. And if SHE turns them down, they assume you're hiding something. Something... _big_."

As he thought about it, it seemed entirely logical and possible that the press would do something like that.

"Terry. Get out of my sight or you'll never get to your next match," Chaud growled angrily.

"Have it your way then. And your girlfriend's at the café," he added pointedly.

"Thank you for _recognizing_ that fact," Chaud snapped through gritted teeth. "Now get out of here before I strangle you."

Terry left without further word. Chaud took one deep breath to calm his nerves, then looked over his shoulder at the café. Nami was indeed sitting against the outer wall of the café, far away from the flow of the crowd, and looking very depressed.

"Nami? Is something wrong?" Sen was asking her.

"I just... Yuko..."

"Oh, hon... she's fine now... she doesn't have to put up with this screw-up of a planet anymore," Sen said in an attempt to make Nami smile. It didn't work. "Oh, Nami... don't worry about her..."

"It's not that, it's just... that the Black Assassin existed four years ago... and apparently got kicks out of killing young children."

"Maybe Yuko was like you?" Sen suggested in a low voice.

"Maybe..."

"Nami." Nami looked up, Chaud had caught up to her. "Everything all right?" he asked, sitting beside her in the snow.

"Well..."

"No," Sen answered for her.

"Sen!" Nami sighed. "She's right, though..."

"I don't pretend that I like what happened to Yuko either," Chaud admitted. "But the fact remains that this was four years ago, and so there's nothing we can do about it. Don't dwell on it too long."

"I won't... I hope..."

"Well, you'd BETTER not, you've got a tournament to win!" The familiar eight-year-old voice came from right in front of them; Yuko's transparent ghost appeared before them. "Oh, come on. Quit worrying about me, I'm not worth it," she declared. "Worry about YOUR problems, not mine!"

"I thought you'd passed on," Nami said in shock.

"Yeah. I thought so too," Yuko sighed. "Well. Too bad being a ghost is forever, right!"

"Oh..."

"Oh, come ON! Can't you take a joke?" Yuko asked, eyeing Nami closely. Dropping her voice, she said, "Angel says hi."

"What!" The name 'Angel' seemed to have an effect on Nami, she perked up almost immediately. "H-How did... oh, right..."

"He also says that you rock and you're the best sister he could have asked for in his time here, and he says sorry that he told you Bonko ran away, AND he says it's his fault that Bonko died," Yuko reeled off. "Bonko says squeak, too."

Nami smiled. "That all?"

"Yup," Yuko said. "I think I like this job. Bonko's cute!" She turned to Chaud, who was completely lost. "Anyway, more importantly, Chaud. About your mother."

Chaud froze. His mother? What did she have to say to him?

"She says DON'T LISTEN TO YOUR FATHER," Yuko said very loudly, leaning very close to him. "HE DOESN'T UNDERSTAND WHAT YOU AND NAMI HAVE YET! And until he does, his word is not to be heeded in any way, shape, or form."

Chaud smiled. "Yeah..." He turned his gaze skyward. "Thanks, Mother..."

"Oh yeah! Nami! Your parents say to tell Ailee that when she becomes a lawyer to go sue the hospital that killed them!" Yuko added as she disappeared.

"Oh, she'll like that..." Nami sat back, a sort of glow about her.

"Who's Angel?" Chaud asked curiously.

"Angel... Angel was my eldest brother. If he was still alive, he'd be... twenty-six today," Nami told him. "He was killed when I was nine."

"Killed?"

"Black Assassin. Surprise, surprise."

"Oh... Nami..." Chaud moved closer to her, taking her hand. "I'm sorry..."

"Don't be..."

"And... dare I ask about Bonko?" Chaud asked.

"You dare. Bonko is— _was_— my guinea pig I had when I was about seven. One day I went to school and came home, and Bonko was gone. Angel told me that he ran away. Of course, I kinda figured out a few years later that Bonko couldn't have run away. He was too fat and too lazy," she said with a satisfied sigh. "We found him a few days later in the freezer. Apparently, Angel must've frozen him or something..." She laughed. "That's Angel for you..."

"Nami..." Suddenly Nami's PET started beeping.

"Email storm!" Sen said in shock. "All from that accursed company DNN!"

"Delete them," Nami said quickly.

"DON'T!" Chaud warned her. "Don't delete them, but don't answer them either," he told her. "They stormed me too."

"Oh... why...? Oh, who cares. Let's go home," Nami suggested, kissing him on the cheek.

"Oh... all right..."

They walked home together, almost the same as they had all through their time together in junior and now senior high.


	30. Nightmares

4

Chapter Thirty:

Nightmares

Chaud lay down on his bed upon getting home, relentlessly wishing that his father would just leave on one of his business trips. And then get lost. _Very_ lost. Then he wouldn't have to stay here, constantly on alert for when his father _did_ get home so he could effectively pretend to be asleep. But that tactic wasn't going to work today, at least, not at 3:30 PM.

Once he'd made sure he was completely alone, he decided to read the "junk mail" that the press had sent him. Each and every one of them was a simple repeat of the previous message. They all begged him for a response to his father's "previous statement" and an interview, "if at all possible."

"What did my dad SAY, anyway?" he raged, bitter that so many people were making such a fuss over one little comment. Or had it been more than a comment?

"Do you REALLY want to know?" ProtoMan asked.

"Yes!"

With a resigned sigh, a window opened on the computer screen. "Just don't go ballistic or anything... it's pretty racy."

"Oh, great..." The more he read, the less he believed that he was actually related to this man who had said these things.

Apparently, his father was under belief that his son was "an upstanding, virtuous young man capable of anything," and that his teaming up with "riffraff" or, more blatantly, "a common weak street rat" like Nami was "simply a mistake."

"Mistake? Excuse me! This has been planned for six months, I should THINK there would be NO mistakes!" Chaud breathed, disbelieving. "I can't believe this... what's the dictionary definition of 'riffraff'?"

"I'll look it up... here." Displayed on the screen was:

riff · raff (rfrf) n.

1. People regarded as disreputable or worthless.

2. Rubbish; trash.

"Disreputable, worthless, rubbish, trash? _Nami_? What does 'disreputable' mean?"

"Dishonest, scandalous, untrustworthy, dishonorable, and disgraceful," ProtoMan supplied helpfully from the online dictionary.

"You've GOT to be kidding me... Nami's NOTHING like that! NOR is she weak!"

"At least she hasn't read this yet," ProtoMan said optimistically.

"Wanna rethink that?" Another window opened, Sen had come to visit. She took a deep breath, then said, in one breath, "Mamoru saw the article, went into a tirade, and almost came over here to 'talk' to your dad. Then, of course, Ailee heard about it and tried to calm him down, and naturally, Raize eavesdropped. Raize told Sean, and Sean told Orion who told me, and I found a copy online and showed Nami."

"It's like you're some sort of spy network or something," ProtoMan said, almost impressed. "I'm amazed the message didn't get all bungled up..."

"Me too," Sen said. "One similar situation started with Mamoru losing his collection of rocks. It got to Nami as being 'Manu needed to go to the corner for socks'."

"What?"

"Don't ask."

"Has she actually read it?" Chaud asked anxiously, not caring about rocks and socks at the moment.

"Yeah. She's taking it rather well."

"Define 'rather well'."

"She's not too terribly upset," Sen assured them. "She's not in tears or in need of anger management."

"Oh, good..."

"Look, she doesn't blame anyone, if that's what you're thinking," Sen said. "Least of all you."

"I know... but..."

"But nothing. She's fine, you're fine, no harm done. Probably best to just forget about all this. Besides, we've still got a tournament to win," ProtoMan reminded them all.

"Yeah. I'm gonna go home," Sen said, disappearing with a _blip_.

"Maybe you should turn in early," ProtoMan suggested.

"Yeah... I think I will..."

---

Chaud fond himself in a very dark place. Complete darkness surrounded him, but he kept walking. Where, he wasn't sure. But he kept walking.

Suddenly, he saw a figure. A girl?... no, this figure was a full-grown woman. She turned to him, smiling a terrible toothy grin offset by her thin, pale gray hair.

"Hello, there," she said in a scratchy voice. "Looking for someone?"

"Yes," he found himself saying. "I'm looking for—"

"Nami, I suppose?"

He didn't answer. How had she known?

"Y-Yes..."

"Chaud, isn't it?"

"Yes," he replied, getting a little creeped out.

"Have a seat, won't you?" the woman asked. Two chairs appeared behind each of them. "I'd like a word with you. And no, I'm not with the press."

Chaud sat in the chair, mentally noting to himself to refuse any sort of food or drink he might be offered, and that if things got out of hand to run very fast in the opposite direction.

"What do you want?" the woman asked abruptly.

Taken by surprise, Chaud didn't have time to answer before the woman spoke again.

"You want to know where she is, don't you?"

"Y-yes..."

"Oh, but we must forget about her for a moment or two," the woman said. "Let's speak of other things... I can tell you anything you'd like to know..."

He remained silent for a moment, thinking quickly. Anything he'd like to know? What he wanted to know was what he was doing there. And where WERE they? And who was this mysterious woman?

"Who are you?" he asked.

"I'm a fortune teller," she told him. "I can tell you what dream you had at the end of May, and what it means."

"I don't dream," he said quickly.

"Don't you?" he asked, her brow furrowed. "If I'm not mistaken, you dreamed about her. That she was missing from the hospital. And when you found her, she was still ignoring you from an incident that I believe involved some sort of device called a BubbleWash. And you kissed her, didn't you? Twice. And she was going to tell you something, but ProtoMan woke you up before she could tell you."

Chaud stared at her in absolute shock. He hadn't told anyone about the dream... at least, not that he could remember.

"I'm right, aren't I?" she asked, smiling that toothy smile again.

"Y-yes... how did you...?"

"I'm a fortune teller, dear. I can tell you the name of your soul mate..."

"I don't NEED a fortune teller to tell me that," Chaud said confidently.

"I'm not finished," the woman said, offended. "I can tell you her name... Nami..."

"I told you, I don't need a fortune teller to tell me that," he repeated. Perhaps she was hard of hearing.

"I'm still not finished, boy. I can tell you all that, well and good, but what I can tell you that no one else can... is how she'll be murdered."

He stared at her in distress. Nami, murdered? That name and that word did NOT belong in the same sentence. "She's not going to die unless she dies of old age," he told her, willing himself to believe it.

"I beg to differ. Not too long from now, only a few years... something will appear on the news before you leave your house, and I can assure you... the news will send you reeling... I can tell you what it is now, and save you the pain..."

"NO! Stop talking, or I'll tell you how YOU'LL be murdered!" Chaud shouted, standing up, the suddenness of his actions knocking the chair flying into the black oblivion. "I don't NEED anyone to TELL me what my future will be!"

"It's all truth, dear," the fortune teller said, still sitting calmly in her chair.

"I don't NEED to hear it, nor do I WANT to hear it!" he snapped, running away.

"Then I'll simply show you," he heard her say faintly.

He skidded to a halt as he saw a girl that looked exactly like Nami, standing up, and another figure in a wheelchair that also looked exactly like her. The seated figure, dressed all in white, did not move as he approached her. She couldn't seem to hear him. He looked into her eyes, expecting to see gray. Instead, they were milky white. Not only was this look-alike deaf, she was also completely blind.

"Nami?" He tapped her on the shoulder. She turned her head, not saying a word. "Nami, answer me! Say something!" he pleaded, knowing she couldn't hear a word he was saying. She made no response whatsoever.

He turned around, distressed, to look at the second Nami, clad in black. She appeared to have all her senses, but did not seem to know how to use them properly. She acted almost like Sen did: completely on impulse. As Chaud walked towards her, she bounded backwards, away from him, into the shadows.

"Nami? It's me, it's Chaud!" he called towards her. She did not move.

"I do not recognize you," a synthetic version of Nami's voice called back. "Who are you? And why do you associate here with me?"

"Nami...? This... this isn't you! What's going on!" He ran towards her, intent on getting her to speak to him, to make her act normal.

"GET AWAY FROM ME!" She screeched the words in a very un-Nami-like way, for one, Nami would never tell Chaud to get away from her unless the reason was very clear to both of them.

"Nami, it's me! What's wrong? What's going ON?" he demanded again. "Please, just talk to me!"

"NO! GET AWAY!" She leaped up, pelting him with God knew what. But whatever it was, it hurt. Bad.

"Nami..." He sank to the ground, his vision sliding in and out of focus. He could barely make out the black Nami attacking the white one. The wheelchair fell to the floor with a crash, the white Nami falling helplessly out of it. She lay on the ground and moved no more. The black Nami kept running, like some sort of crazed animal, randomly dropping to the ground. She was like some sort of Navi-human cross with incredibly faulty wiring.

She came careening towards him, pinning him against the wall by the throat with one hand...

He woke with a start, his breath coming in short gasps.

"Wha... what just... what was that?"

4


	31. Snowy Morning

3

Chapter Thirty-One:

Snowy Morning

Not caring that it was three AM, Chaud slipped into clothes and shoes, quietly leaving the house before his father woke up.

Having NO idea what had just happened, he decided to walk around a bit and think it over. _Might as well start with the park... if it concerns Nami, maybe that'll help me think..._

Shuffling through the blanket of dry snow, he watched various flakes fly up, disturbed by his trek, and float gently back down. As he looked up, he noticed someone else was also at the park. Someone blond.

"Sean?" he asked, moving a little faster. Sean looked up. Upon seeing him, Sean smiled jadedly.

"Hey, Chaud. Couldn't sleep either?"

"Not exactly. What are you doing here?" Chaud asked, sitting down beside Sean on the frosty bench.

"I might ask you the same thing," Sean pointed out, returning to his PET. Chaud noticed a glow coming from it, he seemed to be watching some sort of film.

"You might. But I asked you first. And besides, even if you asked me and I told you, you wouldn't believe me."

"Sure I would. I've seen a lot of weird things in my time," Sean sighed.

"You make it sound like you're six hundred instead of sixteen."

Sean laughed. "Sometimes it feels that way." They both fell into silence.

"What is that?" Chaud asked after a while. "What you're watching."

"Oh, it's a... family film," Sean said, a little embarrassed. "When we were still in Netopia. But Mamoru translated it into English... I don't know why. Man, this was _years_ ago," he commented, looking at a little girl with black hair. Nami, about six years old.

"Can I...?" Chaud hesitated.

"Oh, go ahead." Sean held his PET between them, so both of them could see.

The Hallissys appeared to be at a restaurant. It must have been Nami's first time or something, she was absolutely enchanted with everything, especially the little cardboard boxes the restaurant served the meals in. For some reason, Raize, about eleven at the time, was mad at Nami. Thusly, he took her shoes, and "spilled" ketchup all over them.

"Raaaaaize!" Nami snapped, trying to save her shoes. "No fair!"

"Buzz off," Raize sighed, crossing his arms.

The video cut to the end of the meal, where Nami was refusing to put on her ketchup-filled shoes.

"Why don't you wear the boxes as shoes?" Ailee suggested. She and Mamoru appeared to be about sixteen. Nami's face lit up.

"Okay!" She easily slid her small feet into the boxes, and wore them out of the restaurant as her new shoes.

"I don't know her..." Raize quickly got up and left as what appeared to be Mrs. Hallissy paid the bill.

"Uh... thanks for the footwear," Mr. Hallissy's voice added, laughing, as he passed the front counter. He must have been taping the film.

"You're welcome!" the woman said, a little shocked as Nami came running through the doors to find Raize. He was outside, banging his head (not dangerously) on a lamppost.

"I _luuuuuuuuv_ you, Raize!" Nami squealed, rushing towards him.

"I—I don't—I don't know you," he announced, running away, Nami following him, giggling.

"Is that really her?" Chaud asked, watching the little girl run after her brother.

"Yup. She just turned six. We think that's why she and Raize are always at odds. Ketchup filled shoes..."

"They don't really ever FIGHT fight, do they?"

"No! No, of course not...," Sean replied. "They just... sorta... bug each other. A lot." They both watched as Raize tripped over the curb, Nami tackling him a moment later.

"GET OFF!"

"Why are you up so early anyway, Sean?" Chaud asked.

"Oh... eh... Mamoru and Ailee were fighting last night. Couldn't sleep," Sean said dismally. "I swear, you'd think they were a married couple or something... And what about you?"

"Um... I had a nightmare," Chaud said sheepishly.

"Yikes. Hate those things... something you wanna talk about?" he asked cautiously.

Chaud sighed, telling Sean the majority of what he could remember from the nightmare. As he listened, Sean seemed to become more and more worried.

"Holy. Flipping. Fruit." Sean stared in utter amazement. "Did you hit your head or something?"

"Not... that I would remember," Chaud said, trying to think. About now, it seemed like a pretty logical explanation.

"Hm... I don't know. I'm not a psycho-lo-lo-gist or anything," Sean said, stumbling over the unfamiliar English word, "but I'd tell you not to think too much on it. You've got a tournament to win. And you'd BETTER, by the way," he added as a sort of afterthought.

"We will... provided nothing completely insane happens," Chaud said dismally. "Given the past few days... anything goes."

"No joke... hey, what was the deal with that Yuko girl? That was freaky... is she really a ghost?"

"Yeah. Shockingly enough." Chaud stared into the swirling snowflakes. "I still don't get it..."

"The whole ghost thing?"

"No... this whole thing with the Black Assassin... apparently he's a bigger threat than I thought."

"Do you think it's something we should worry about?" Sean asked. "You're the Official, call it."

"I... don't know. I don't have all the information yet."

"Think about it. I mean, this guy's killed a bit lately, and obviously back in Yuko's time too. And he killed at the Zoo. That was pretty close to where you guys were. Maybe he's after one of you..."

"I certainly hope not," Chaud said wryly.

"Yeah... hey, we should probably get home," Sean noted, checking his watch. 4:30. "I'm gonna go... night—er, actually, morning!" Sean left, chuckling to himself.

Chaud sank down further on the bench, not wanting to return home. As much as he wanted to stay, he left the park, eventually deciding to go home at 5:00.

3


	32. Conflict

6

Chapter Thirty-Two:

Conflict

Slipping back inside, Chaud closed the door as quietly as he could...

... and the light flicked on. His father stood in the hallway, leaning against the wall, and looking very displeased.

"Where were you?" he asked evenly.

"Out," Chaud said as calmly as possible under circumstances.

"Out where?"

"The park?"

"With who?"

"No one. I ran into Sean, and—"

"Who is Sean?"

"Nami's brother. The blond one."

"What were you doing?"

"We were talking! Why does it matter? It's five AM... why don't you just go back to sleep?"

"I've been up since four answering calls. From DNN."

_Oh, no... you've GOT to be kidding me..._

"They want to talk to you."

"At four AM?"

"Obviously, it's that important to them. They want to find out everything about you now. You and that girl!"

"_That girl_ has a name!"

"I don't CARE!" Mr. Blaze shouted. "As far as I am concerned, you don't NEED her, and you never HAVE, and you never WILL!"

"Maybe I don't _need_ to be with her, but—"

"But _what_?"

"I do _want_ to be with her," Chaud told his father, quiet but firm. "I love her. I don't care what DNN has to say. They're media. They twist the story and make it 'more interesting for the readers' and just about never tell the truth anyway. Just because people understand that doesn't mean they don't believe everything they read. These days, people will believe _anything_," Chaud said, inexplicably calm.

"Like the ghost of a little girl killed by the Black Assassin? That was a trick."

"NO, it WASN'T!" Chaud snapped. "Yuko's a ghost, she came back to talk to Nami and I!"

"And _why_ should I believe you?" Mr. Blaze demanded.

"Because it's true! All of it, it's all true!"

"How should I know about anything you two are doing behind my back!"

"I _don't_ know! Nor do I _care_! But from the looks of that interview you gave DNN, you're pretty confident in yourself!"

"The interview?" Mr. Blaze asked, sounding confused. "Oh... _that_ interview..."

"Street rat! She's no street rat! She's not weak, she's not riffraff, she's amazing! And she's as strong as I am!"

"_NO ONE _is as strong as you are!"

Momentary silence. Chaud watched his father carefully, both stung and slightly flattered that his father thought he was _the_ most powerful. Mr. Blaze looked as though he were in shock from his own words, something Chaud had never seen his father in.

"Nami is. I know she is. She's strong. The strongest girl I've ever met."

"Really, now. Has she ever saved a life?"

"Yes," Chaud said defiantly. "Mine. Every day I've known her."

"How so?"

"In a way you obviously can't understand!" Chaud felt his anger flare up again, remembering Yuko's words. _Don't listen to your father_...

"I _would_ if you would just tell me!"

"NO! Yuko told me something that I intend to follow!"

"What—"

"Why is my social life so important to you now!" he demanded. "Why can't you just go away to work like you used to?"

"That's for me to know!"

"See! You never let me in on anything in _your _life, why should I tell you about _mine_?"

"Because I need to know!" Mr. Blaze insisted.

"WHY do you need to know? So you can go to the press and twist our lives into a special media coverage!"

"Are you _accusing_ me of something, Chaud!" he demanded, his face reddening with anger.

"Maybe I am!" Chaud challenged.

That was the final straw. Mr. Blaze strode forward, furiously slapping his son across the face.

Chaud stared disbelievingly at his father, his eyes watering from the force of the blow. Barely thinking, he turned heel and ran out the door, without a coat or shoes to shield him from the cold.

---

Nami lay in bed, also unable to sleep.

_It's five AM. I have a citywide tournament with my best friend slash boyfriend tomorrow— no, today. I also have to worry about running into my friend slash drama partner slash stalker-ish guy tomorr— NO, today, at said tournament. The Black Assassin assassinated a child four years ago, whose ghost is "haunting" Chaud and me. Speaking of which, that article from Mr. Blaze was closely followed by an article about Yuko, labeling her as a scam to get people to come watch._

_Well, that didn't work. Mamoru might get fired from his job if he doesn't keep up with his work, thusly he can't come to see the tournament anymore. Ailee has to work too, so she can't come watch either. Raize is busy sulking because his girlfriend of three days dumped him yesterday afternoon, so he won't come either. Sean might come— no, wait. He's going to stay here and unsuccessfully attempt to cheer up Raize while blowing off his own date which he has undoubtedly completely and utterly forgotten about..._

_NO WONDER CAN'T I SLEEP!_

She buried her head in her pillow for a minute, willing herself to go to sleep. Finally, she sat up, furious with herself and her messed-up internal clock.

Looking out the window, she saw a fierce storm brewing. _Oh, great. And thing number... what am I on now? Fifty-seven? We might get snowed in... yippee._

She got out of bed, clutching the blanket around her so it trailed after her somewhat like a bridal veil, intending to close the curtains.

Something red caught her eye. Something beginning to be buried in the snow. "Huh...?" Straining her eyes, she saw Chaud in the snow, unconscious. "Oh, my God!"

Racing downstairs, still clasping the blanket to her, she ran outside, the wind blowing a lot harder than she'd originally thought.

Mamoru woke up, heard Nami running down the stairs, and immediately knew something was wrong. "Nami, what's going on?" He poked his head out of his bedroom door, saw the snow whirling in from outside, and saw his little sister, panicking, in the snow outside, in her nightgown, a blanket on the ground. "Nami? What's happening?" Mamoru rushed downstairs too, the racket from his shouts and the stairs waking up the rest of the family.

"What's going on?"

Mamoru ran outside, and realized why Nami was panicking.

"Nami, don't worry, we'll get him inside— Raize, go get some more blankets, Ailee, you clear off the couch!" Mamoru directed quickly, lifting Chaud up in his arms. "Nami, get inside... Come on, we've gotta work fast!"

---

"What do you think he was doing out there?" Ailee asked, closing the door, not caring that there was snow all over the kitchen floor.

"I don't know, but there's no way he's going home now," Raize said sagely, sitting cross-legged in an armchair. "At this rate, we'll be snowed in by seven."

"No joke..."

"Hey... I know he was out in the snow for goodness knows how long, but... why is one side of his face all red, but the other side isn't?" Sean asked, tilting his head to one side, then the other.

"I... hey, you're right!" Mamoru realized. "I don't know... that's really... quite... weird."

"Wow, Mo, seven years of med school, and you can't describe that in any other word than 'weird'?" Ailee teased.

"Shut up, I'm serious."

"Hm?" Raize bent over Chaud too. Mamoru had brought him inside, set him on the couch, whereupon Ailee and Nami had started a fire, wrapping him in blankets. "Oh, _that's_ weird. I'd never expect that on him."

"What?" Nami asked, still worried sick.

"You _know_ what that is? And I don't?" Mamoru asked, shocked.

"Yeah." Raize sighed. "Me, being the one who has been rejected by the most members of the opposite sex, know a slap mark when I see one."

"Huh...?"

"It's like this. Someone must have hit him," Raize summed up. "Pretty hard, by the looks of it."

"You don't think... he was seeing someone...?" Sean asked slowly.

"No... No, of course not," Ailee said confidently, placing her arms around Nami's shoulders. "He's better than that. And you deserve better than that," she added to her sister, who was close to tears.

"I agree. If he'd been seeing someone else, we'd know. How could we not?" Mamoru wondered aloud.

"I assure you, if any one of our dates were cheating on us, they'd never be allowed through the front door," Raize said, nodding.

Nami took a deep breath, then asked, "Then what could have happened?"

"I don't know. I don't think any of us _could_ know unless Chaud tells us..."

"Is he even all right?" Raize asked callously.

"He should be fine... if Nami hadn't spotted him, who knows what might've happened..."

Sean stoked the fire, shaking his head. "I don't know, guys. Maybe it's something we shouldn't get into."

"And if it's something like that, we'll leave him in peace," Raize announced. "So. Either way, I assume we're not going anywhere tomorrow."

"Of course not."

They all sat in silence for a while, Sean occasionally poking halfheartedly at the fire, sparks flying. The uncomfortable silence lasted until a rustling of blankets caught their attention.

"Hm?" Mamoru looked over at Chaud; he appeared to be waking up.

"Chaud!" Nami nearly knocked over the chair as she rushed to the couch.

"N... Nami?" Chaud looked up, his vision blurred. He felt a hand on his forehead.

"God, he's _freezing_," he heard Ailee's voice say worriedly.

"At least he's _alive_," Raize said pointedly. "Gotta look on the bright side every once in a while, Ai."

"Shush."

"How are you feeling?" Nami asked, also apprehensive.

"Good... question..." Chaud tried to move, then realized that he was wrapped up tightly in a tangle of fuzzy blankets. "What... happened?"

"You tell us," Mamoru said. "Nami found you outside, almost buried in the snow..."

"Didn't you go home?" Sean asked.

"I did... and then my dad..."

"What...?" Nami was absently shaking her head.

"He... slapped me."

"Oh, _that_ explains it!" Raize said a little too loudly.

"Raize. Shut it," Sean said.

"Sorry, but..."

"So you noticed," Chaud sighed, trying to sit up.

"Stay still," Mamoru advised. "Yeah... we noticed."

"Were you fighting or something?" Nami asked.

"Yeah... over that stupid DNN article..."

"Well, god! There's no _way_ we're going to let you go home now!" Ailee said. "Not if your dad hits you!"

"No! It's never happened before... I think..."

"Even so. It's not right," Mamoru agreed. "You're staying here, like it or not."

Chaud noticed that Mamoru was smiling as he said this.

"I think you'll like it here," Sean said, getting up from his spot on the chair.

"Yeah. It may not be as... _extravagant_ as your house is," Nami said sheepishly, "but... it's home."

"I won't be any trouble," Chaud promised.

"We know you won't," Ailee said warmly.

"Well... if that's all the excitement for the morning, I am going to bed," Raize announced. "Night—I mean, morning... whatever." He went up the stairs, yawning.

"I think I'll go too," Sean said, also ascending the stairs. "Um... good night slash morning slash whatever it is we're supposed to say..."

"Yeah... see you later, all." Mamoru and Ailee also took the stairs up to bed.

"Are you sure you're all right?" Nami asked, still by his side.

"I'll be fine... with that storm, it doesn't look like we'll be fighting tomorrow," he said.

"All the more time to practice," ProtoMan sighed. "I think we'll all appreciate a day off..."

"ProtoMan!" Chaud burst out. "Why... are you in my pocket?"

"You never docked me before you fell asleep, had a nightmare, went outside at three AM, talked with Sean, got yelled at by your dad, and then ended up here," ProtoMan reminded him.

"Oh... oops."

"No, it's a good thing," Sen said.

"Yeah. Now you don't have any reason whatsoever to have to go back to your house," Nami agreed. "If ProtoMan was still there, that would create something of a problem..."

"True."

"Do you want me to stay down here with you?" Nami asked.

"You don't _have_ to, but..." He felt himself turning red. "I really don't mind."

She smiled, settling herself on the armchair next to the couch. "Okay."

6


	33. DarkChips

5

Chapter Thirty-Three:

DarkChips

The next morning, Chaud and Nami woke up to the sound of smooth chocolate chip pancake batter being meticulously poured into a hot frying pan.

"Morning, guys!" Sean's voice called from the kitchen. "Hungry?"

"Sean... you're _cooking_," Nami realized, shocked.

"Is this unusual?" Chaud asked.

"Yes. Ailee normally makes breakfast," Sean told him, "but she's still asleep, and _I'm starving_!"

Nami shook her head, smiling. "Whatever..."

Chaud kicked off the many blankets, realizing that he was no longer cold.

"Feeling better?" Nami asked.

"Much. Thanks..."

"No worries! I hope you like chocolate chips, guys," Sean said, flipping the finished pancakes onto a plate, "the bag kinda split open... over the bowl... and they all... kinda... spilled in... eheheh..."

"Oh, yay, just what we need," Nami sighed. "Everyone to be all hyped up on sugar and caffeine on a day that we can't go outside. Brilliant, Sean." She got up, opening the fridge. "We need fruit to balance this out." She took out a bowl of strawberries, placing them on the table.

Sean laughed, setting the pancakes on the table next to the strawberries. "Let's go ahead and eat, everyone else can just have what's left."

"Sounds good to me," Chaud said, smiling.

---

By the time Sean, Nami, and Chaud had finished their chocolate filled pancakes and strawberries, Mamoru and Ailee had woken up, and eaten the rest of the pancakes before Raize could get up, leaving him with strawberries for breakfast.

"You snooze, you lose, pal," Sean told him sympathetically.

"I am NOT a morning person," Raize whined, munching on a strawberry. "And I like pancakes..."

"And you like strawberries, too," Nami reminded him, clearing the table.

"But I LOOOOVE pancakes..."

"But too bad," Mamoru told him. "Even if we're snowed in, you still have to get up."

"Not THAT early!"

"I say we do something," Sean proposed.

"Yeah," Ailee agreed, "we actually have an even number of people for a change. We should play a team game."

"NO!" Raize snapped, "I say we play boys versus girls!"

"But there's two of us, and only four of you," Ailee laughed.

"Huh...?"

"We all know you would fall to the superior girl mind, toaster boy," Nami told him, matter-of-factly, at which he laughed.

---

Sen and ProtoMan alerted the two of emails a few hours later.

"Looks like we ARE fighting today," Sen sighed.

"Oh... well, great," Nami sighed. "When? And how do we get there?"

"At... nine tonight. And the roads are being cleared as we speak," ProtoMan said. "So. I hope everyone feels great today, apparently there is no such thing as a day off anymore."

"No kidding..."

"Knock, knock." Mamoru appeared at the door to Nami's room. "Hey, Chaud?"

"Yeah?"

"We just got an email from your dad... take a look."

It read:

_M. Mamoru Hallissy:_

_I believe my son Chaud is lodged at your home. Please tell him that I am expecting him home tomorrow night. Also, I would like to invite your family to dinner at our residence the same night._

"Um... _THAT_ was not what I was expecting," Chaud said truthfully.

"Yeah... _tomorrow_ night?" Nami asked, rereading the message. "Not _tonight_?"

"That's a bit odd... knowing him, he'd want me home by tonight," Chaud added.

"Maybe he's being nice to you," Mamoru suggested.

"I HIGHLY doubt that." He fell back against the chair, rolling his eyes. "I'd have to actually HEAR it from him to believe it."

"Oh, come on," Mamoru sighed. "He can't be ALL bad..."

"You don't know him like I do."

Mamoru left without further word, leaving Nami and Chaud alone.

"He's right, though," Nami said, sitting down on her bed. "There's no way anyone can be all bad. It's not possible."

"Actually, with the invention of those 'DarkChip' thingamawhatsits, pretty much anything goes," Sen said. "Not that I meant that your dad's a Darkloid or anything... _please_ don't arrest me..."

Chaud smiled. "I know what you mean..."

"Seriously. I don't get why they have such a bad effect on Navis," Sen continued, heartened. "It doesn't do anything to us..."

"WHAT?" Immediately, Chaud sat up, nearly falling off the chair. "You've used a DarkChip before?"

"Yeah," Nami said as though it was no big deal. "Why?"

"Those are dangerous!" ProtoMan told the girls edgily. "People who have been caught in possession of a DarkChip nowadays is arrested on the spot! It's THAT much of a threat! Navis are being deleted from using even one of them!"

"We know about all that," Sen said. "But even so. We used a few on accident, but that stuff's never happened to us."

"It might be a delayed effect or something!" ProtoMan persisted.

"So I take it you used more than one?" Chaud guessed.

"Umm... I think so," Nami said, looking flustered.

"How many, then?"

"I... Chaud, I can't remember," Nami told him. "This was a long time ago!"

"How long ago?" he demanded, still in shock.

"I don't know. Before we even came here, that much I remember," Nami said, also still watching him carefully, as if afraid he might try to strangle her.

"Did you use one in a crossfusion?" he asked, hoping against all hope that she hadn't.

"Yes, _that_ I remember," Sen answered for her.

"Yeah... yeah, I remember that too," Nami said softly.

Chaud closed his eyes, sighing. "And I thought I had nothing to worry about..."

"What do you mean?" she asked carefully.

"I... Nami, you could get hurt," he told her. "Who knows! Maybe you're immune to it, but maybe you're not! Maybe it'll creep up on you and just kill you on the spot!"

"Chaud..." She shrank back into her chair, seeming fearful as he continued, raging.

"Nami, you could DIE!" he told her forcefully. "Those things will KILL people! And if you don't believe me, you could ask Lan or Maylu or any of the others! Ask anyone, and they'll tell you that DarkChips are dangerous!"

"What if Sen gets deleted for no reason? And what if she gets 'addicted' to them, and accidentally destroys herself!" ProtoMan added, also furious. "There's no way to know!"

"Nami, promise me you'll never use another DarkChip," he pleaded, grabbing her shoulders.

She turned away from him, eyes shut tight.

"Nami, look at me!" he told her desperately, "look at me and _promise_ me!" Chaud repeated, shaking her heatedly.

She turned her tear-filled eyes to meet his. "I promise..." She said the words so softly that in his anger he barely heard them. "I promise I'll never use a DarkChip again... please let me go..."

As she said this, he realized that his grip on her shoulders had not lessened, it had, if anything, been getting stronger the whole time.

"Nami..." He released her, stepping back. "I... I'm sorry..."

She didn't respond, she sat back down on the bed, eyes downcast.

"Nami?" Sen asked, worried. "Ok...?"

"Yeah... I'm fine..."

"Nami, I'm sorry," Chaud said, his voice low. "I... I didn't mean to hurt you..."

"I know... but..."

"But what?"

"I... You really scared me... For a minute I thought you were really going to _hurt_ me..."

"Nami..." Chaud sat down beside her. "First of all, I'm sorry I scared you... but more importantly, just know... I would _never_ hurt you. Not of my own free will. And I promise I'll never hurt you again as long as you don't go and use any DarkChips."

"Sounds fair..."

"I'm really sorry..." Chaud laid his hand on her shoulder.

"Please, don't touch me there," Nami said quietly, pulling away from him.

With a slight frown, he took her in his arms, careful not to touch her shoulders.

"And... if it's DarkChips you're after..." Nami got up, opening her drawer, looking as though she was doing this against her better judgment. "You might want to take this." She held something out.

"What... what is...?" The thing she was holding didn't look like a DarkChip at all, it looked more like a new, smaller sort of chip, completely black and almost emanating an evil aura.

"Haven't you ever actually _seen_ a DarkChip before?" Nami asked, curious.

"I have, of course I have, but... not one like _this_. Where did you get this?"

"The Yoka zoo trip."

"That was almost a year ago!" he realized in shock. "Why didn't you tell me about it?"

"Because Mamoru told me not to tell you," she said, getting confused. "Since obviously we all know what a DarkChip looks like, I wasn't sure what this was at first. So I did some research. I didn't find anything until Mamoru found it and told me to keep it locked up in my drawer, and he told me that I _must not tell you_ _or else_..."

"But why?"

"I don't know, he was pretty scary when he told me that," she admitted as he took the chip from her.

"I've never seen anything like this before..." He studied it thoroughly, careful not to miss a thing. It was definitely a chip, definitely a DarkChip. But what kind of a DarkChip was it? It was strange... why was it so much smaller than all the other DarkChips he'd seen?

"It freaked me out, too," Sen added. "It has this weird magnetic field around it, almost like a human's natural magnetic field."

"We figured that's probably why it just _feels_ evil," Nami added.

"So not only is it creepy, weird, and evil, it's _magnetized_, too," ProtoMan sighed. "Want me to scan it?"

"No, who knows what could happen? I'll bring this in to the other Officials the next time they call me in..." He carefully placed the chip in his chip case, making sure that it didn't touch anything but the case's cover.

"I'm sorry..."

"Don't be. I'm glad you told me," Chaud said, flopping back into the chair. "Now then... any guess who our opponents tonight will be?"

"Well... I've got a few educated guesses," Nami said, smiling. "Check this out."

She pulled up a screen on her computer; it was a copy of the tournament chart.

"We won, so that puts Yuko and Tetsu out," Chaud started as their pictures faded away.

"So our opponents could technically be any of the other four teams," Nami said, highlighting the teams' pictures.

"I see."

"So, if we knew who won and who lost, that would narrow the odds," she said. "I know for a fact that this pair here won," she said, clicking on one team. It consisted of a teenaged girl named Shuko, and the local chip shop owner, Higsby.

"Really? Wow. I wouldn't expect Higsby to be in a crossfusion tournament," Chaud said, a little surprised. "And I know that Terry and his teammate won."

"Oh, great," Nami sighed, frowning. "So that puts these teams out... so we have a fifty-fifty chance of fighting Terry and... this Tensuke character," she said. "And same for Higsby and Shuko."

"Either way, I don't think it'll be easy," Chaud said. "Judging from that last match. This is going to be tough."

"Isn't it always..."

5


	34. Higsby's New 'Fascination'

8

Chapter Thirty-Four:

Higsby's New 'Fascination'

Around five o'clock, Nami and Chaud received two more emails, notifying them that their match was against Shuko and Mr. Higsby at eight o'clock.

"Wonderful," Nami said wryly. "I was almost hoping to go against Terry..."

"You and me both," Sen agreed with a sigh. "Seriously. It would've been FUNNY!"

"But, knowing him, he'll win," Chaud said. "We all know he will."

"And so will we," Nami agreed.

"Great. So that way, you two can whip him into a pulp in the finals," ProtoMan said, laughing. "But until then..."

"Let's go ambush someone and make them play a game with us," Sen suggested, laughing. She noticed that everyone was looking very oddly at her. "What? It worked before!"

"I don't know," Nami sighed. "Everyone's off doing something different..."

"What else can they possibly do?" Chaud asked. "They're not working...?"

"What are you, insane? Of course they're working," Sen said ironically. "They're all just workaholics."

"Not Raize," Nami reminded her. "And Sean's not a big work fan either."

"Okay, so it's just Mamoru and Ailee who work 24/7."

"Wow... getting older must be awful," Chaud realized, picking up a blanket and wrapping it around them.

"Yeah. According to my dad, 'turning thirty has officially been terrible, and will ALWAYS be terrible," Nami said, imitating her father's deep voice. Chaud laughed.

"I wish I could tell you what my dad says, but I wouldn't know," he sighed.

"Poor you," Nami agreed, throwing a pillow at him.

"Yeah, poor me, I get pelted with a pillow!" he shot back, throwing it back.

She caught it easily, and tossed it over her shoulder, back onto her bed. "_Not_ what I meant. You're an only child, and you're always so alooooone...!"

"Until I met you, and the rest of your family," he pointed out.

"True, that... now you're NEVER alone because someone will always be looking out for you... ProtoMan included," Nami added quickly, noticing that ProtoMan was watching them closely.

"I was afraid I was being forgotten," ProtoMan lied quickly as Sen tackled him. "HEY!"

"Gotcha! You're supposed to be the alert one," Sen pointed out, laughing.

"Wha... very funny," ProtoMan snapped as she ran away, holding his sword, realizing that Sen had been teasing him, something he wasn't very used to. "Hey! Give that back!"

"Man, you Officials are no fun sometimes," Sen moaned, falling over backwards with a soft cyber-_flump_. "Are you _completely_ incapable of taking a joke?"

"Apparently so, now give it back!" ProtoMan barked. "Before I'm forced to arrest you!"

"What for?" Sen shot back. "What_ever_ have I done?"

"You _stole_ my sword!"

"So?" Sen asked, tossing it at him. "What am _I_ gonna do with a sword?"

"I don't know, you tell me," ProtoMan said, picking up the sword.

"I was _going_ to give it back eventually," Sen said pointedly.

"Suuuure you were."

Sen shook her head, lying back. "Whatever... Maybe you could catch up on some homework," she directed at Chaud and Nami.

"Oh, yes, let's," Chaud sighed, "how fun _that_ is..."

"How about we continue to do nothing, seeing as you don't have your books with you?" Nami suggested.

"I like that better."

"Fine, just shoot ME down," Sen sighed, crossing her arms, still on her back.

"Maybe we should just Netbattle for fun," ProtoMan suggested.

"Teammates don't fight, smart one," Sen told him, sitting up. "Why on Earth would you suggest such a terrible thing!"

"Sen," Nami said warningly.

"About now, anything is better than nothing," ProtoMan retorted.

"Enough," Chaud snapped.

"What do you mean?" Sen asked.

"I don't know, probably not anything you're thinking," ProtoMan snapped.

"STOP IT!" Chaud shouted at the two Navis. "What's up with you two today?"

ProtoMan averted his gaze, miffed.

"Don't you _dare_ turn away from me, ProtoMan," he snapped. "What's going on with you? Do I need to scan you again?"

"No."

"Then why are you acting so weird?"

Nami and Sen looked at each other, then looked away, Nami laughing, but Sen scowling as normal.

"What?"

"It's— nothing, ignore us," Sen said quickly.

"WHAT?"

"Nothing!" Nami assured him, choking back laughs. "It's..."

She whispered something in his ear. Something had made him burst out laughing too.

"What!" ProtoMan demanded as Sen tapped him on the shoulder. "WHAT?"

"Geez, why so temperamental?" Sen asked curiously, cocking her head.

ProtoMan crossed his arms. "Temperamental..."

"C'mon, no snappy comeback?" Sen asked, shocked. "You're kidding."

"What's going on?" ProtoMan demanded. "What do you know that I don't?"

"That we're both insane," Sen covered, suddenly shocking them all by giggling like the little girl she most certainly wasn't.

"No. We're not insane. At least, not _both _of us, that'd be—"

"Outrageous? Cracked? _Insane_?"

"Either _outrageous_ or _cracked_."

"I don't see your point."

ProtoMan sighed. "There's a point there _somewhere_..."

"Which leads us to the fact that we're both insane."

"We're not insane," ProtoMan insisted. "At least, not you... you're too good to be insane..."

"Huh...?" Sen looked at him in shock.

"Wait... that didn't come out right... that's not what... what?" ProtoMan asked after a shaky moment of silence.

"Are you _flirting_ with me, sir?" Sen asked accusatorily.

"WHAT?"

That did it. Chaud and Nami both burst out laughing, Sen shook her head, and ProtoMan fell into shocked silence.

"WHY would I flirt with YOU?" ProtoMan snapped, slightly offended, and, if possible, a little redder than was normal.

"I don't know, would you flirt with anyone else!"

"Should we be worried?" Nami asked, glancing over at the two bickering Navis.

"I don't think we need to be," Chaud said, pulling her closer. "At least... not _yet_."

"Okay... if you think so..."

Finally, the two Navis settled down, icing each other out.

"Are you sure we shouldn't be worried?" Nami asked, watching Sen sulking.

"They'll be fine," Chaud assured her. "They both know when to give it up."

"Hm..."

---

At quarter to eight, the snow blocking the roads was finally cleared enough to walk to the tram station. Nami and Chaud decided to go early, just to be safe.

"Do you know anything about this Higsby guy?" Nami asked.

"You haven't met him?"

"No," Nami sighed, shaking her head. "Surprising as it seems."

"Surprising? I'd call it impressive," Chaud laughed. "In this town, it's hard not to know someone."

"I know, I know! Tell me about him!"

"About who?" Mr. Higsby ran up to them, apparently also going in early. "Do you mind if I walk with you two?"

"No, it's okay," Chaud assured him. Nami, _this_ is Mr. Higsby. Higsby, this is Nami," Chaud said swiftly.

"Nice to meet you, Nami!" Higsby said, smiling. "I've seen you around town a few times before, I think... huh. And the whole thing with the N1 and—"

"Talking too much," Higsby's Navi, NumberMan, said mindfully.

"Oh... sorry," he apologized, brushing his untidy brown hair out of his glasses, pulling his coat tighter around him..

"It's okay..." Nami fell into silence for a moment, staring straight ahead.

"Is... something wrong?" Higsby asked her.

"No, it's..." She laughed a little before continuing. "I'm just debating with myself whether or not to ask you about your tie..."

"Wha...?" Chaud looked over at Higsby, it was true. He wasn't wearing the normal red tie that he almost always wore; this tie boasted stereotypical alien faces all over it.

Higsby, however, laughed. "I was wondering if anyone would notice, huh!"

"And here we go again... I hope you have a _lot_ of time on your hands," NumberMan warned apologetically.

"Oh, boy..."

"See, it's to do with my latest fascination, huh!"

"Which would be—"

"Red pandas?" Chaud asked, smiling as he remembered that "phase" of Higsby's year. When Mr. Higsby got "fascinated" with something, it was not so much _fascination_ as _obsession_.

Higsby crossed his arms, looking annoyed. "No. Everyone knows that _red_ pandas never existed, they were the proverbial _green _pandas. The people from the 2000s and earlier were simply under the belief that pandas were red, huh."

"Apparently, they were colorblind," Nami supplied helpfully.

"Obviously, huh! Anyway, my latest fascination has been with aliens, huh!"

This statement was met with silence.

"What, huh?"

"That's a little... out there... even for you," Chaud said.

"How'd you get so into aliens?" Nami asked curiously.

"Well, it started when I heard about this new sort of chip, this UFO chip," Higsby started. "And so, I got to thinking about it, and I just can't stop, huh!"

"Really...?"

"Yeah, huh!" Higsby looked up into the snowy skies, staring at the clouds. "But I can tell you, Den Tech City is _not _a very alien-active place, huh..."

"What do you mean?" Nami asked.

"No one's been abducted," he said shortly.

"Because aliens don't exist," Chaud said. "There's no specific—"

"Prove it, huh!" Higsby snapped. "Prove that aliens don't exist!"

"Umm... how?"

"EXACTLY!" Higsby half-shouted, nearly leaping up into the air in excitement. "There may be no evidence that aliens exist, but in the same way there's no evidence that they _don't_, either, huh!"

"You've really thought this out, haven't you?" Nami asked, a little shocked.

"Of course I have!" Higsby said indignantly.

"And _I_ would know," NumberMan added with a sigh.

"I thought you were _interested_ in this sort of thing, huh!"

"I AM! Just not as much as you are..."

"What do you mean, no one's been abducted?" Nami asked.

"Either the aliens have no interest in us boring Den Tech City folk, or they just haven't been here yet, huh," Higsby explained.

"Interesting... how do you know that?"

"If I didn't know you any better, I'd say _you _were interested in aliens too, Nami," Chaud said pointedly.

"Well, it's just that we're on a topic that seems more interesting than just about anything _I've_ heard all day," Nami said. "Being snowed in was never fun in Netopia, and still isn't very fun."

"I doubt it ever will be," ProtoMan agreed.

"True. But anyway, you were saying, Mr. Higsby?" Sen asked politely.

"Right! Well, I've been asking a few people—"

"How? 'Excuse me, have you been abducted by aliens lately'?" Chaud asked, stifling a laugh.

"NO, huh! I developed a special set of questions that can accurately tell me if you've been abducted or not," Higsby informed them as they reached the tram station.

"Okay. Try me," Nami suggested, smiling.

"Really?" Higsby looked shocked but thrilled as they boarded the bullet train to the Dendome.

"Go ahead," Nami encouraged, taking a seat between Chaud and Higsby on the train as it lurched into motion.

"Nami," Chaud said warningly.

"Oh, come on! What could possibly happen?" she asked pointedly.

"Yeah, huh!" Checking the time with NumberMan, Higsby started asking Nami what seemed to be highly intellectual, yet slightly random, questions. "Have you ever experienced 'missing time', Nami?"

"Which is... what, exactly?" Nami asked, already confused and in over her head.

"It is a frame of time, usually an hour or more, that has completely been removed from your memory, in which you cannot remember where you were or what you were doing during that time," NumberMan explained.

"Okay... and yes."

"REALLY?"

"Yeah," Nami said, thinking back. "Actually, just last week... I remember walking down the stairs at like 4 o'clock in the afternoon, and next thing I know, I'm in the park in the middle of the night."

"So, that's eight hours completely removed from your memory," NumberMan calculated. "Interesting... no one we have yet asked has experienced missing time..."

"Moving on, huh! Have you ever seen light or unexplained flashes of it somewhere outside, but you couldn't identify the source, huh?"

"Hm... only like three times," she told him. "All of which were at nine o'clock _exactly_."

"Stranger still..."

"Okay, huh... have you ever had unexplained scratches, bruises, or scars?" Higsby continued eagerly.

"Yeah. A lot more frequently, lately," she added, looking a little frustrated.

"VERY bizarre," NumberMan said, now sounding genuinely interested. "Tell me, do you have a 'marker memory'? A memory of something like a face or an object that does not go away?"

It took her a moment to answer this question. "I... yeah. Oddly enough."

"What of?"

"A face... a person. A _human _person," she added.

"Do you know who this person is?" NumberMan asked.

"I feel like I've seen him before, like I know him... but I don't know who he is," Nami admitted.

"Peculiar..."

"Have you ever woken up during the night upset or in a state of panic for no reason, huh?" Higsby asked.

"Does being little and having nightmares count?" Nami asked wryly.

"Possibly, but most likely not. Within the past, say, five years," NumberMan suggested.

"Surprisingly... yeah. And it was because I dreamed about that marker memory thing," Nami said, sounding shocked.

"Do you have a great fear of certain sounds or lights?" NumberMan asked.

"Umm... I hate fluorescent lights... or pink ones... does that count?" Nami asked.

"Probably not... any sounds, huh?" Higsby inquired.

"I don't think so... not that I can remember."

"Hm... have you ever experienced something almost psychic or paranormal, huh?"

"Like knowing what will happen before it happens?" Nami guessed. "Sometimes. Just randomly. Normally around something to do with either my brother Mamoru or PETs..."

NumberMan stayed silent for a moment. "Do you have any idea _why_ that might be?"

"I'm not sure. It's never happened around any of my other siblings... only Mamoru. And Sen is _always_ with me when it happens."

"You make it sound like this sort of thing happens a lot," Chaud pointed out, still listening to the conversation.

She shrugged. "Like the thing with the unexplained bruises and scratches, it's been happening more and more. Remember how you accused me of mind reading the other day?"

"Yeah... it happened then?" he asked disbelievingly.

"Yep."

"Aha! A witness, huh!"

"It still doesn't prove anything," Chaud scoffed, crossing his arms.

"One more question, Nami," NumberMan said. "Have you ever heard voices in your head, telling you to go outside or to do something?"

Nami froze. "Y-Yeah..."

"And it's NOT your subconscious, huh?" Higsby clarified.

"No. It's..." She frowned. "Call it paranormal or whatever, but I just... know... it's the voice of that man in my marker memory..."

"Interesting... and you're sure you've—"

"I have NO idea who he is," she said, her eyes blank.

Higsby and NumberMan both stayed silent for almost two full minutes, both thinking hard. Finally, Higsby broke the silence.

"I think it's pretty safe to say you've been abducted before, Nami," he said seriously.

"Really?" Chaud asked, still skeptical.

"Really, huh!" he snapped. "Why would I lie? And I'm not done yet, huh!"

"What else?" Nami asked apprehensively.

"I think the voices you hear _are_ the aliens telling you what to do, huh."

"Perhaps, if you really _have _been a victim of their escapades, they got away with a few experimentations on you," NumberMan suggested. "And they might tell you to hurt someone, so just... be careful."

Chaud leaned back in the chair, arms crossed. The very thought of Nami being abducted by little green men was insane. There was _no way_ all that could be true, she had to be making it up just to make Higsby happy. Although... the bit about the 'paranormality' seemed true, eerily enough.

"Come on, we're here! Chaud, are you listening!" Nami's voice brought him back to earth.

"Huh? Oh... right." In his loss of concentration, the train had stopped moving without him noticing. "Let's go, then..."

8


	35. Watching Match 2

7

Chapter Thirty-Five:

Watching Match 2

_Could this clock possibly go ANY slower? _Mamoru wondered irritably, waiting for the only clock in the shop to hit 9 PM. No one else was in the store, and he was done closing up, but wasn't allowed to leave until nine.

"Patience is a virtue," Akiron reminded him, turning out the lights. "Look, Nami's match won't start until quarter after nine."

"It takes us that long to get home on the tram, longer if we walk," Mamoru snapped.

"Hey! Relax! _Ne stressez pas!_"

"I'm not stressing, I'm just worried," Mamoru sighed, leaning on the countertop. "How is she gonna pull it off?"

"What do you mean? Did something else happen to her?" Akiron asked.

Making sure that they were the only ones that could possibly hear, Mamoru said, "She told me yesterday that she was hearing voices again. And we all know what _that_ means..."

"Oh, great. Think they're catching up?"

"I hope not..."

Nine o'clock came at last, Mamoru dashing out into the snow and promptly slipping on a loose patch of ice, bringing him into close contact with a newly discarded copy of the local newspaper.

"Huh?" He picked it up, curiously checking the front page, subconsciously wondering if something about the tournament was on it.

The tournament was not in the paper, yet a picture from Christmas graced the front page. Someone had followed Nami and Chaud to the park.

"Oh. My. God."

"THAT'S not good," Akiron said seriously. "No way they're gonna like that..."

---

"Where ARE they?" Sean paced around the room, ten after nine. "It's five minutes to the match!"

"We know that," Raize sighed, sitting in a chair, bored. "They'll come."

Mamoru came racing into the house, holding a tattered copy of the newspaper.

"What's that? Where's Ailee?" Raize asked.

"This? This is a newspaper that is going to cause a LOT of problems," Mamoru told them breathlessly. "As for Ailee, I wouldn't know, we work in different towns. And she took the car to work this afternoon, so she should be here in a while..."

"Great. She's got four minutes," Sean noted.

"Then watch!"

Raize turned on the TV in the living room, all three boys turning to watch the coverage at the stadium.

"...ten minutes into the match, and neither team is making it easy for the other!" the announcer wasted no time in telling them.

"TEN MINUTES!"

"I thought it wasn't supposed to start until quarter after!" Sean moaned.

"Apparently, we didn't miss much," Raize said, "even though Nami looks a little beat up out there..."

---

"Do you really believe him?" Chaud asked Nami as they both dodged dice-bombs from Higsby. "About the alien thing?"

"I don't really know," she sighed. "By all accounts, it makes sense, but-"

"It makes _sense_? How so?" Chaud asked, blocking another shot with his sword.

"Voices, weird people stuck in my head-"

"And a fear of pink fluorescent lights," Chaud added, cutting her off. "I highly doubt that as a basis for alien abduction!"

"With all the weird stuff happening lately, I wouldn't rule it out just yet!" she told him, firing shuriken at the exact same moment that Shuko spouted off water at her. Both shots connected, sending both girls flying back, leaving Chaud and Higsby to deal with each other until they recovered.

---

"Come on, sis, you're better than that," Raize sighed, watching his little sister getting flooded out by an overpowering water shot.

"She's doing all she can," Mamoru said absently. "Where's Ailee?"

The phone rang as though in answer. Since he was closest, Mamoru picked it up.

"Ailee?"

"Hey!" Ailee's image appeared on the screen by the phone.

"Where are you? The match already started!"

Ailee frowned, looking distraught. "I can't get home in time to see it!"

"Why not?" Raize asked, leaning around the chair to talk to her.

"Someone stole the car!"

"Someone WHAT?"

"It gets worse," she sighed. "They completely _wrecked _it too. No hope of any repair whatsoever."

"Wonderful..." Mamoru shut his eyes, trying to think. Five of them, three with a license, one with a permit, three still in school, all of them working, all sharing one completely totaled car. "Anything else you'd care to tell us?"

"Actually, yeah, I just got fired," she said matter-of-factly, crossing her arms.

"WHAT?"

"You got FIRED?" Mamoru exploded.

"Why?" Raize demanded.

"I can explain," she sighed. "I got quite angry and flew into an uncontrollable rage and started yelling at a customer—"

"What for?"

"—when I saw this." Ailee held up a slightly battered copy of the Den Tech City newspaper, the DTC Times. The same story that Mamoru had found.

"I found that too... I hope she hasn't seen it yet."

"Who wrote this!" Ailee demanded, putting the paper down.

"Unless we know a certain 'anonymous' person, we don't know.," Mamoru sighed.

"Man... so anyway, I'm gonna have to take the tram home, ok?"

"Actually, why don't you go and wait for Nami at the Dendome? It's closer, and then you can both get home faster," Mamoru suggested. "You know how long it takes to get from Yoka back here."

"I know... I'll see ya later..." Ailee hung up.

"I heard the words 'stole', 'car', 'wrecked', 'fired', and 'rage'," Sean said, turning his gaze from the match.

"You heard right. Someone stole the car, wrecked it, and Ailee got fired when she got mad when she read that article in the DTC Times," Raize summed up.

"Great..."

"How're we doing?" Mamoru asked.

"Not bad, actually. Nami took Shuko down while you were discussing wrecked cars and fired sisters."

"_Not_ funny."

"Sorry." Sean shrugged. "Is she coming home?"

"Actually, she's going to the Dendome to pick up Nami and Chaud so they can all get home faster."

"Sounds good. Are you aware that this is _live_ coverage?" Sean asked.

"Um... yeah... why?"

"Live reporters. Racy newspaper story. About tournament favorites."

"What's your point?" Raize asked.

"That story's about Nami and Chaud, right?"

"Yeah. So what?"

"Ailee's Nami's sister. And since there are real live reporters there, they will probably bombard her with questions about them," he explained. "If she got mad over the _article_, think about what she'll do when she gets a hand on the crew who published it."

Momentary silence.

"Oh, no..."

---

"Nice shot, Higsby!" Nami shouted. "But you're gonna have to be faster than that to catch me!"

"It's not MY fault you're faster than I am, huh!" Higsby shot back, pitching sharp ended cyber-rulers at her.

"School supplies? Is that it?" Nami shot shuriken at him, pinning him momentarily against the ground.

"HEY! That is a _very_ rare chip, thank you very much, huh!" Higsby snapped, genuinely annoyed.

"Very funny," Nami laughed.

"THERE IS NOTHING FUNNY ABOUT RARE CHIPS!" Breaking free of the shuriken, Higsby threw more rulers at them, knocking Nami down.

"OW!" Slowly getting up, she tossed a ruler off her shoulder. "Suddenly I remember why I hate these things..."

"I've got him," Chaud told her, "you stay back and cover me!"

"All right, go get 'im!"

Dashing forward, Higsby was the first to make a move. _"Ruler deadfall!"_

"What!" The discarded cyber rulers formed a sudden cage, trapping Nami inside it.

"LEMME OUT!" she snapped, using every possible method to break the cage; nothing worked. Finally, she crossed her arms with a dissatisfied sniffle. "I SO hate rulers..."

"Nami!" Making a quick swerve around, Chaud dashed back, also trying to break the cage.

"Face it, it's not gonna work," Nami told him, "just go get Higsby! Maybe if you rough him up enough you'll trip some sort of an off-switch..."

"Sounds good, hang tight!"

Chasing Higsby around the field took very little time, soon Chaud had caught up.

"Take down the cage!" Chaud shot at Higsby, pelting him with flame shots.

"I don't have to, huh! _Deadfall swap!_"

The ruler cage disappeared, taking Nami with it, Higsby disappearing as well, leaving Chaud alone in the center of the field, feeling incredibly confused and isolated.

"What's going on!" Both just as suddenly reappeared in the same places, leaving Higsby wide open for attack.

"_That _was a colossal waste of a chip, huh," Higsby sighed.

"Not my problem!" Wasting no time in the attack, Chaud swiped his sword at Higsby...

... only to hit something hidden behind a puff of smoke that Higsby had disappeared in, Nami disappearing out of the cage in another.

"Huh! It works after all!" Higsby's voice exclaimed from the opposite end of the field where Nami's cage had been a moment before.

"Wha...?"

The smoke cleared, leaving an unconscious and clearly out of the battle Nami on the ground.

---

"That was an interesting chip... is it legal?" Raize asked.

"If not before, it probably is now since it's been broadcast citywide," Mamoru sighed. "Let's hope Chaud can win this without her."

"Oh, come on. If he can beat Darkloids, he can beat this guy," Sean reasoned. "Seriously. Maybe we should think about going to that chip shop. With stuff like _that_, he's going to be getting a lot of business now."

"Let's hope he doesn't have anything _else_ like that up his sleeve."

He didn't. For the rest of the match, it was back to dice-bombs and rulers, leaving Chaud with a relatively easy win minutes before Terry and Tensuke finished with their opposing team.

As the dimensional area disappeared, Shuko and Nami woke up.

"Nami... are you ok?" Chaud asked, helping her up.

"I feel woozy, but I'll live..." She shook her head to clear her senses. "What happened, anyway? I couldn't see through the smoke."

"I'm sorry... Higsby tricked us, and got me to attack you," he said sheepishly.

"Don't be sorry...that is, unless we lost!" She smiled, crossing her arms. "It was an honest mistake. Sadly, anyone in this stadium could probably have done the same thing."

"Yeah... I guess." Regaining his composure, he smiled too. "And don't worry, I won without you." She laughed.

"I knew you'd come through! C'mon, let's get outta here."

---

Ailee made her way through the rush of people exiting the stadium, looking for her little sister.

"Ailee!" At the sound of her name, Ailee turned to see Nami and Chaud coming towards her in the rush.

"Hey, Nami! Chaud! How'd it go?" she asked.

"You mean you didn't watch?" Nami asked, looking a little down.

"I tried, but— Oh, it's a long story, sweetie, I'll tell you on the way home. Just tell me about the match, we're taking the tram home..."

---

11:00 PM

_1973... 1974... 1975... oh, what am I doing?_ Tossing off the blankets covering him, Chaud got up, pacing around the Hallissy's couch._ I can't sleep, and I've almost hit 2000 imaginary sheep... I need to talk to her..._

Quietly climbing the stairs, he noticed that there was a light on in Nami's room. _Good...she's still awake..._

He knocked on the door. "Nami? Can I talk to you?"

"Sure, come in."

Opening the door, he saw her sitting at her desk, a piece of paper in front of her.

"Whatcha doing?" he asked.

"Trying to figure out what kind of word means 'ultimate suffering'."

"Why?"

Nami sighed. "I don't know. I can't sleep."

"Neither can I... actually, there's something on my mind," he said, sitting down on her bed.

"What's that?" she asked, turning the chair to better face him.

"Remember the email my dad sent Mamoru?"

"Yeah. What about it? You have to go home tomorrow..."

"...and all of you get to come over for dinner."

She froze. "Forgot about that part."

"Me too, until just now. I'm _really_ not looking forward to it. Knowing my dad, he'll probably try every possible way to humiliate you."

"Oh, come on. How bad can he be?" Nami asked optimistically, receiving a blank stare from Chaud. "Right..."

"Maybe you should just skip out and say that blow from me caused head trauma or something," he suggested.

"I couldn't do that, we've still got one more battle to get through!" Nami reminded him. "And I am NOT missing a chance to get back at Terry for what he did on Christmas."

"Don't remind me," Chaud sighed.

"Hey! It happened to _me_, not you," she told him. "But I DO see your point..."

"So... you're seriously planning on going to dinner?"

"Of course I am! As much as I'd rather not, I still think that if we can all get on your dad's good side, things will most likely improve for _all_ involved," she said, getting up. "And I think it might give you two something to talk about. Maybe you can solve your problems that way."

"Through you?"

She shrugged. "I didn't say it was a _great_ way to solve your problems..."

Chaud laughed. "You should be a shrink."

"I should. I guess test-piloting experimental jets will be more my thing," she agreed, laughing too. "You okay downstairs?"

"I'm fine." He got up too. "I'm fine..."

"Are you _sure_?"

"Positive..." Pausing for a moment at the door, he turned and kissed her. "I love you, Nami."

She blushed, smiling. "I love you too. And we're gonna crush Terry tomorrow. Agreed?"

"Agreed!"

7


	36. Article Over Breakfast

8

Chapter Thirty-Six:

Article Over Breakfast

"DTC's Exclusive Article: Opposites Really Do Attract, Featuring Local Tournament Participants Chaud Blaze and Namirra Hallissy! I can't believe this," Mamoru sighed.

"I am NOT amazed," Ailee said. "It was pretty obvious from the day they met that they were going to be a target for this kind of thing."

Mamoru, Ailee, Raize, and Sean were all congregated in Mamoru's room, talking about the article. Raize bounced up and down in his chair, impatiently awaiting any sort of final decision-making that he could influence.

"I'd say it started more around the day they started dating," he put in, still bouncing. "I mean, oh look, they're friends, great. But if you add a kiss in it, _then_ there's something to talk about."

"I agree with Raize," Sean decided from the floor. "But I think it was even before their first kiss. I think it was right before the N1 crashed and there was the whole explosion of publicity on both of them since they were battling."

"You might be right," Ailee said, "but any way you look at it, there's still the ugly point that the media won't leave them alone."

"You're the lawyer," Raize pointed out. "Isn't there some sort of civil rights thing that protects their privacy or something?"

"I'm not sure, I'll do some research with legal aid," Ailee promised. "Maybe I can file a case in today if I work fast enough..."

"Not today, you won't," Mamoru said. "You're going job-hunting."

"I am?"

"You got fired. You've got to get another job."

"I know, I know I do," Ailee sighed. "But can't it wait? I want to see this last match, and then tomorrow I PROMISE I'll go—"

"Ailee, tomorrow is New Year's Eve. There is no way on earth anyone will sit for a job interview on New Year's," Sean pointed out.

"Well, yeah, but..."

"Ai, we're four months behind in rent. We've gotta get the money to pay it all off, or we're outta here," Mamoru said. "As in _out of country_."

"Oh..."

"Right."

"That wouldn't be so bad, actually," Raize said. "Take a year offa college, go out, see the world..."

"Your college tuition is where all the rent money is going," Sean reminded him. "And some of it is in my college fund."

"Nami's too," Ailee added.

"You guys had better get straight A's," Mamoru said sternly. "If we're lucky, you might get a partial scholarship for programming."

"You're good at that kind of scientific stuff, too," Raize added. "Maybe you can be a scientist and find the DarkChip cure."

"Hahaha, very funny," Sean said seriously. "I don't think there _is_ a cure."

"Whatever. Maybe you could get into Wirerod," Ailee suggested.

"Ew. That place is sleazy," Sean said, revolted. "If we hate the media now, why send me to a school where I'll end up selling my soul to them? And besides, it's at the other end of the country."

"This country may be bigger than Netopia ever will be, but it's still not _that _big," Mamoru reasoned. "And if not there, where?"

"_I _wanna go to Advanced Innovation," Sean said dreamily. "I've always wanted to."

"We know," Raize sighed, having heard this fact many, many times.

"For good reason!" Sean snapped. "It's the best programming school ever!"

"_And_ the most expensive."

"Shut up."

"What about Nami?" Ailee asked. "She hasn't said anything about what she wants to do after high school."

"Before we came here, it looked like she was planning on working for Manu until she got enough money to go out on her own," Mamoru said. "But now... I don't know."

"I don't know either," Ailee said sadly. "I hope she _does_ go to college."

"She doesn't want to," Sean sighed. "She told me a while back. Says she doesn't want us to waste our money on her."

Mamoru rolled his eyes. "Classic Namirra Starla Hallissy, right there."

"Yeah. But even so... maybe we should think about it," Ailee said. "I mean... you know better than any of us what's going to happen eventually," she told Mamoru. "It doesn't sound like that day's so far anymore."

"I know what you mean," Mamoru agreed, "but I still think we should try and put her through college and give her a chance to do what she wants to do."

"Isn't that all anyone really wants? A chance to do what they do?" Raize asked. "Would kinda suck if we didn't get to live out our dreams."

"But, what I think she really wants after high school is to settle down somewhere. Maybe even get married," Sean said.

Raize laughed. "What do you mean, _maybe?_"

"Raize!"

"Honestly, what college course can you put her through that she will truly enjoy?"

"We could send her off to acting school," Ailee suggested.

"She's good enough, but she's not serious enough," Mamoru said, stamping on that idea. "Nami doesn't take a lot of things seriously."

"Oh, she does _so_ take things seriously," Sean said. "When she came over to the mall to pick out a photo album for Chaud the first time, she ended up giving her money to a homeless man outside the mall."

"And she took a lost puppy back to its owner last summer," Ailee added. "Even though it took her three hours of searching."

"Which is where she _got_ the money for both the homeless guy and the photo album," Raize said. "Remember?"

"Yeah, I remember," Mamoru sighed. "What's your point?"

"When was the last time you saw her buy something for herself? Really?" Sean asked. "She's always giving. Give, give, give..."

"So she'll end up working for a charity most of her life, I bet," Raize said.

"But then how will she live? I mean, as far as getting a place to live, and getting enough to eat," Mamoru said. "You see, _this_ is what worries me about her! She doesn't really have a plan for anything!"

"I'm sure she does," Ailee assured him.

"I know," Raize said suddenly. "If she marries Chaud, which we all know will totally happen the second they get out of high school, Chaud will probably already have enough money to get them both started, so that way they can _both_ do everything they want to, _and_ they'll have enough left over to get a place to live and food to eat and clothes to wear, all that stuff!"

Silence for a moment as they all pondered this, sudden mental images of Nami and Chaud's would-be wedding running through their minds.

"You know, that might actually be what she'd do," Ailee said. "But, then again..."

"She's really not one to take advantage of people," Mamoru agreed.

"But she _won't_ be taking advantage of him, because they love each other and la-di-da, and she'll eventually pay him back!" Raize argued. "I'm telling you, it's perfect!"

"Maybe," Mamoru sighed. "Let's just see if they both last that long..."

---

"Nami? The match is at noon today..." Looking up from the email, Chaud saw that she had her back turned to him. "Are you even listening to me, Nami...? Oh, no... Nami, stop! You're gonna burn it!" He ran over to the frying pan, too late to salvage the egg she was attempting to fry up.

"Aw, darn it..." She sighed, tossing yet another egg out in an attempt to make breakfast for everyone. "Let's face it. I can't cook eggs."

Shaking his head, Chaud took the pan and the eggs from her. "Let me do it."

Nami cocked her head to one side. "You can do it? Seriously?"

Perfectly cracking the egg into the pan, he nodded. "Yeah, seriously."

Seeing that Chaud obviously wasn't going to burn, destroy, or ruin it in any way like she had, Nami nodded. "You fry the eggs, and I'll bake us some muffins. Cinnamon raisin sound okay?"

"Sounds great."

Ten minutes later, Nami was stirring the muffin batter she had made from scratch, turning on the oven.

"How is it that you can make muffins from scratch, but you can't fry an egg?" Chaud asked, flipping the third egg.

"I honestly don't know," she sighed, pouring equal amounts into each of the little indentations in the muffin tin. "I've always been better at baking than almost anyone else."

"Almost?" Chaud asked suspiciously.

"Mamoru beats me every time."

"Mamoru? Really?" he asked, sliding the egg out onto a hot plate.

"I'm serious, he makes this _awesome_ baked spaghetti... But he can't make my special cookies."

"Special cookies as opposed to not-special cookies?" Chaud laughed.

Nami smiled. "We all learned the recipe from our mom. I'm the only one who can get it right."

"Is there some sort of secret ingredient in it or something?"

"There's a nice corny cliché about love here somewhere, but I'd rather not," she told him. "I think it's just cuz I'm specialful."

"You _are_... specialful."

Nami laughed, pushing the muffin tin into the oven.

"The eggs are done," Chaud said, putting the pan in the sink to be dealt with later.

"And the muffins will be ready in about twenty minutes," Nami added.

"That fast? And they'll be cooked all right?"

She smiled, laughing. "I promise, they'll be completely edible."

"Unlike your eggs."

"Don't ruin the moment."

"What?"

Nami shook her head. "C'mon, let's make some smoothies while we wait."

---

"Sean? What are you doing?" Raize asked. Sean was sitting at the top of the stairs looking down at the niche between the kitchen and the living room.

"They were just cooking."

"Who?"

"Nami and Chaud."

"Really?"

"Yup."

"_Really?_"

"Yes!"

"Wow. What were they cooking? Something fit for human consumption, I hope?"

"Yeah. Eggs and cinnamon raisin muffins."

"Nami can't cook eggs!" Raize reminded him.

"She can't. But Chaud can."

"...Really?"

"YES!"

"And now they're making strawberry banana watermelon smoothies."

Raize sighed. "This _always_ happens whenever Nami makes breakfast. We always OD on fruit."

Sean turned to stare at his brother. "Well, this is what happens when you have a vegetarian for a little sister!"

The two boys watched as Nami peered down inside the blender that Chaud was filling with strawberries. "Chaud?"

"Yeah?"

She pulled out a strawberry. "You can eat the red part, correct?"

"Right. But you can't eat the leaves," he said.

"Okay... then why are we putting the leaves in the smoothie?"

Chaud stared at her, realizing his mistake. "Right... sorry..."

She smiled, pulling out the strawberries. "See? You're not exactly a kitchen wizard either."

"I have to admit, I've never used a blender before in my life," he warned her.

"You learn something new every day," she told him. "I'll teach you."

"Okay..."

They continued cutting the tops off of the strawberries, Raize and Sean still watching from the stairs.

"They're really not so bad together," Sean said.

"Yeah."

"Hey boys. Whatcha watching?" Ailee asked, passing them on the stairs, arms full of laundry.

"Chaud and Nami are cooking."

"Really?"

"Yeah. They're making smoothies," Raize said.

"Chaud, wait!" Nami cried. A loud whirring buzz noise sounded from the kitchen, the blender was on... without the top on.

"Oh, Lord, what's going on down there?" Ailee stopped, looking down into the kitchen as well. Nami and Chaud were both splattered with the pink mixture resulting from strawberry juice mixed with milk, little pieces of strawberry, and half-melted ice.

Nami shook her head slowly, suppressing a laugh. "We're gonna have to take this slow, aren't we?"

Chaud looked guiltily up at her. "Sorry..."

She tossed him a towel. "Let's get this cleaned up."

"Why are we all congregated on the stairs?" Mamoru passed them in the hall, carrying a stack of papers that were probably work-related.

"We're spying," Ailee said.

"Why are we spying?"

"Because it's insanely entertaining," Raize told him. "Chaud and Nami are cooking."

"Really?" Mamoru looked down. "Seems like they're cleaning."

"They were trying to make smoothies a minute ago, then Chaud started the blender without the top on."

"Oh, wonderful."

"They already made eggs and muffins."

"Good! We don't have to cook today," Mamoru said happily, continuing on his way.

---

"Sorry about that," Chaud said, guilty.

"Don't worry about it, it's a classic mistake," Nami said simply.

"In cartoons! I should have known better!"

"It's okay, really," Nami told him firmly, "why don't we finish these smoothies up and then get the rest of the gang down here to eat?"

"All right..."

"But you have lost your button-pushing privileges. Okay?"

Chaud smiled. "Okay."

By the time mess-free smoothies were made, the muffins were done, and the eggs were still warm.

"I'll set out the food, you go get everyone," Chaud said.

"Okay... thanks for your help," she said sheepishly.

"It's the least I can do," he told her. "You saved me from the snowstorm and let me stay here with absolutely no notice. Thanks for that."

"It's nothing," Nami said. "You're practically family."

He smiled as she went up the stairs. _Maybe someday I _will_ be..._

"Hey guys, breakfast is ready!" Nami called, knocking on all the doors.

"Okay, be down in a second!" Sean's voice called from behind the door to Nami's room.

"Uh... ditto!" Raize's voice added, from Mamoru's room.

"Coming!" Ailee's voice said from Raize's room.

Nami frowned. "_Why_ are you all in the wrong rooms?"

"Umm... be down in a second!"

---

At 8 o'clock, once everyone had finished their deliciously fruity breakfast, Mamoru went off to work early so he could finish in time for the match, Raize and Sean claiming the same. Ailee was going job-hunting, and left at nine AM.

"You two behave, okay?" she reminded them as she left.

"Yeah, yeah, we'll burn the house down, have fun," Nami called after her, laughing.

"We're not actually gonna burn anything, are we?" Chaud asked.

"Oh, of course not," Nami said. "I just say that to annoy her."

Chaud shook his head. "So... what are we gonna do for the next two and a half hours?"

"I don't know... Sen?"

Silence.

"Sen? Answer me, please."

More silence. Nami sighed. "I'm shutting you down."

"NO!"

"That's what I thought."

"What do you need?"

"Get over it," Nami told her.

"Over what?"

"_Just get over it_."

"What!"

"The fight you had with ProtoMan last night, get over it."

"Over it."

"Good."

---

They ended up passing the time playing random games they found around the house, even going so far as to try to snitch something out of Mamoru's room. Instead of a game, they found a newspaper.

"This is yesterday's news," Nami noticed. "It's not like him to keep day-old news on his bed."

"What's so important about it?" Chaud asked, taking it from her, reading the headline. "Oh, good lord."

"It's about us, isn't it?" Nami sighed, flopping down on her brother's bed. "That must be why he kept it."

"Well, that..." He held up the article so she could see the picture. "And the picture's a fake."

Raising her eyebrows, she took the article from him. "I'm gonna have to go with you on that one," she told him, her cheeks turning pink.

The picture was _supposed_ to be of their first kiss, but the problem that Chaud had so quickly noticed was that it was set in the park.

"Whoever took these pictures must've edited them for some reason," Nami guessed.

"Why, though?" Chaud asked. "What's the point of putting it in the park?"

"I don't know," she sighed. "Maybe it's some sort of newspaper-y thing we don't know about."

They fell into silence for a while, reading the article.

"You're aware this is all lies, right?" Nami asked.

"Yup. However, I must agree that we are indeed in high school."

"Obviously and rightly so, but still..." Frowning, she tossed the article down onto the pillows. "I'm not very comfortable with our picture gracing the front page of the DTC Times."

"Neither am I, but what are we supposed to do about it?"

"HEY!" Sen's voice shouted. "There's stuff in it about ProtoMan and me!"

"What?" ProtoMan snapped. "Seriously?"

"Hey, you're right," Chaud realized, reading the end of the article. "They think you're like.. 'Roll and Mega Man's competition'."

"WHAAAAAAAT!" Sen exploded.

"Why would they automatically assume that?" ProtoMan asked, inexplicably calmer than Sen.

"Ask them, not us," Nami said. "I can't believe this..."

"I say we go over to the newspaper head and give him a piece of our minds!" Sen shouted, arms crossed.

"We can't, Sen, it's too far, and I bet you anything they'll tell us we need an appointment," Chaud said.

"But why? We're their celebrities," Nami said sarcastically. "We shouldn't need an appointment!"

"True that may be, but the fact remains that should we show up, we will be kicked back out," he reasoned. "We'll just have to deal with it until we can give them a nice little visit."

"I'm more interested as to how they got this, not why," ProtoMan said. "There wasn't anyone following you on Christmas, was there?"

"I don't think so... did you see anyone, Nami?" Chaud asked.

"Nope."

"Then we have an 'undisclosed and anonymous' enemy out there," Chaud sighed. "Hope it's not anyone we know."

"It might be someone from school that doesn't like us very much," Nami suggested. "What other reason would they have to try and trash our relationship?"

"Or maybe they like one of you and hate the other," ProtoMan put forward. "Maybe they're trying to embarrass you both, get you to break up, and pick one of you up on the rebound?"

"_Or_ they just don't like you," Sen added.

"All excellent ideas, but nothing we can confirm," Chaud said. "There's just not much we can do about this yet."

"_Yet_," Nami pointed out. "Ooh, the second I find out who did this..."

"I feel sorry for that person... actually, no I don't," Sen decided.

8


	37. Pride, Sabotage, and the Third Match

9

Chapter Thirty-Seven:

Pride, Sabotage, and the Third Match

Eleven-thirty came, sending Nami and Chaud onto the bullet train to the Dendome, tossing around ideas about the upcoming match.

"Believe it or not, I don't think this'll be too difficult," Chaud said confidently, sitting down in a chair near the door.

"Why's that?" Nami asked. "Yesterday we _both_ thought this whole tournament would be tough."

"We're facing Terry and Tensuke, remember?" Chaud told her. "If you could beat Terry in the N1, I doubt he'll be much more of a threat now. As for Tensuke, he doesn't really look like much. He's old!"

"They got this far, though."

"I'm not worried," Chaud said firmly.

Nami shook her head. "Beware the power of pride, Chaud..."

Terry and the elderly Tensuke boarded the train a stop later, Chaud and Terry avidly avoiding each other's eyes.

Nami shook her head. "What's with you guys?" she asked in a whisper.

"We haven't been on speaking terms since Christmas," Chaud told her.

"I see." She leaned back in her seat with a sigh. "This is gonna be a _long_ day..."

---

"Now stopping at Dendome Station! Passengers please disembark!"

The two teams left the tram station, each as quiet as the other.

"I don't think this will be an easy match," Nami said nervously. "Knowing you two..."

"Relax," Chaud told her. "We'll get this over with nice and quick."

"I think it's past 'prideful' by now, Nami," Sen whispered, adding something else that Chaud couldn't hear.

"I see."

"What?" Chaud asked.

"Nothing... look, I'm going to walk around for a bit," she told him. "I'll be back in time for the match."

"Is something bothering you?" Chaud asked. "Do you want to talk?"

"Not now..." She walked away, leaving Chaud very confused and a little guilty. "Prideful..."

---

Chaud decided to walk around as well, eventually running into Terry, who was busy fiddling with his PET.

Both of them glared at each other for a moment, then Terry finally spoke.

"Where's Nami? I need to talk to her," he said, not bothering to look up from his PET.

"I don't know," Chaud told him. "Why do you need to talk to her, anyway?"

"None of your business."

"Tell me."

"Why should I?" Terry retorted. "It doesn't concern you."

"How should I know?"

"Because I just told you," Terry sighed, turning heel and beginning to walk away. He paused for a moment, then looked back over his shoulder at Chaud. "By now, I can safely assume that you've seen the picture in the DTC."

"What about it?" Chaud snapped.

Terry merely shrugged, an odd look in his eyes. "Later."

As he walked away, Chaud began to put it together.

"_You_ wrote it, didn't you?" Chaud asked accusatorily. Terry stopped. "_You_ took the picture and wrote the article."

"Say what?"

"Just now. You just asked about 'the picture.'"

"So?"

"Everyone else is more interested in the article rather than the picture."

"Again. SO?" Terry scoffed, walking away.

"You had to edit the picture because you took it from inside the Hallissy's house."

Terry finally turned around, coming to the realization that he probably wasn't going to be able to get out of this one without a fight.

"What's your point, Sherlock?"

"All the windows were locked. You had to have taken the picture from inside the house looking out of the windows. But since the windows are made of glass, they would have reflected the room you were in, so you had to edit the picture so no one would find out it was you," Chaud pieced together.

"Again. What's you point?" Terry demanded, his shaky voice betraying his guilt.

"Taking the picture, editing it, writing that piece of deceit, and then sending it to DTC, you think that was a smart idea?"

Terry remained silent. "So what are you going to do about it?"

"Report you."

"To who?" he demanded. "What do you think they're going to do about it? Arrest me?"

"At least get a confession," Chaud snapped.

"Confession of what?"

"Violation of privacy or something."

Terry glared at him. "You can't possible prove it to them."

"I'm an Official. People will take my word over yours any day," Chaud reminded him.

"So I've heard. That still doesn't take care of the fact that Tensuke wants to see Nami."

Chaud frowned. "Then why do _you_ need to talk to her?"

"Because Tensuke's afraid of her," Terry sighed, shaking his head. "Now really, where is she?"

"I don't know. She took off somewhere. Don't you have anywhere better to be? Some other reputation to ruin?"

Terry shrugged. "Nobody better than you."

At that moment, ProtoMan spoke up. "Um, Chaud? Nami's been calling for ten minutes..."

Taking his PET from his pocket, Chaud answered her call just after the answering machine kicked in, turning around.

"Hi, Nami."

"Hey! By the way, you need a new answering machine," she told him.

"Why?"

"It so conveniently says that you'll be gone Thanksgiving break, but it's after Christmas. You might want to change it."

"Right, thanks. What's up?"

"I just wanted to let you know that I might be cutting it a little close as far as getting back to the stadium goes," she said quickly, obviously caught up in the high-noon lunch hour rush. "I should be there about ten minutes before the match. So don't get worried, okay?"

"I won't. But you'd better be here!"

She laughed. "I will! I promise, but—"

The phone cut off as another file popped into existence.

"Hello? What's going on?" Chaud asked ProtoMan.

"Not sure. We must have accidentally cut off connection."

"Are you sure it was our signal?"

"Yeah. Her signal was perfect, but ours was getting a little shaky for some reason..."

"Weird. Maybe we should check it out."

"Whatever's going on here, it doesn't seem to concern me, so I shall leave you to your own devices in peace," Terry said, turning and dashing off.

"That was pretty fast for having nowhere to go," ProtoMan noted.

"No kidding."

---

"How are we on time?" Nami asked Sen.

"Just about six minutes til the match," she said. "I think."

"Good, we'll just make it on time," Nami said breathlessly. "I HATE lunch hour..."

"It was never this bad in Netopia, was it?"

"No, because everyone _brought_ lunch to work..."

"Want me to call him again?" Sen asked.

"Yes, please! I don't want them to start without us."

Sen called, but got nothing other than a dead signal. "It's still not working."

Nami sighed. "I wonder what's going on?"

"He hung up on us first, and now he's not even answering," Sen added.

"He didn't hang up, because when someone hangs up, there's a click, and there was no click, remember?" Nami asked.

"Ok, then his signal sucks, let's go!"

Finally, they came upon the Dendome, finding Chaud sitting on a bench, frowning down at his PET.

Nami slid onto the bench beside him. "Hi, I hate your phone," she said matter-of-factly.

"Yeah, me too," he said. "It's not working."

"We know," Sen said. "We've been calling you since the signal died, and it just gives us a dead signal."

"Which is weird, because when I check it, it's fine and says the signal is fine, but when I try and call someone, it decides to fizz out and make my life miserable..." He sighed, giving up trying to fix it. "I'll take it in to the other Officials tomorrow... they'll probably be able to fix it better than I can."

"I could give it a shot!" a voice called to them from across the courtyard. Looking up, the pair of them saw the elderly Tensuke hobbling across the snow towards them. "Lemme see it, sonny, I might be able to get it working!"

"Um..."

"You can trust me, I swear," Tensuke added. "I know how tense you Officials are, I understand if you don't trust me."

Chaud thought for a moment. "Well... okay..."

"Good idea?" Nami asked as Chaud handed his PET to Tensuke.

"It better be..."

After a few minutes of fiddling around with it, Tensuke looked up at them shocked.

"Son, there's almost no way to get this bug out now."

"Why not?" Chaud asked.

"Someone—_other_ than me, I mean— must've jammed it or something, there's a lock on all your data," Tensuke told him.

Shocked silence for a moment. "Can you do _anything_?"

"I _could_," Tensuke admitted, "but I'd have to take the durn thing apart. And I don't think you want me to do that."

"Sabotage... how?" Chaud wondered aloud.

"Did you talk to anyone between the time I left and now?" Nami asked.

"Yeah... Terry," Chaud said, realizing exactly why Terry had been fiddling with his PET. "I think that... Hm..."

"What?" Nami asked.

"He and I got in an argument about the DTC article when you called, and when our connection got sliced, I received a new file," Chaud said. "I was so busy trying to fix the phone I didn't pay any attention to it... Terry must've sent it to me, he had his PET out the whole time."

"Shouldn't there be a disqualification then?" Nami asked.

"I guess. But beating him would probably be a better punishment," Tensuke said. "Knowing my grandson, he won't listen to reason."

"_Grandson_?"

"Always the troublemaker, that one..." Tensuke shook his head.

"What did he do?" Chaud asked anxiously.

"It's correctible, don't worry. It's just that _I_ can't work with it," Tensuke said. "It'll just inhibit performance capabilities during... crossfusion..." Tensuke realized exactly what this meant for the match. "Oh, Terence, what have you done!"

Chaud sighed, falling backwards down onto the bench. "Great."

"Well, at least when you beat him, it'll be because you're all around better, even with diminished power," Nami said consolingly.

"Yeah... just don't expect me to turn out the Mona Lisa and a barrel of monkeys today... oh, Terry said that Tensuke needed to talk to you," he remembered. "Right?"

Tensuke frowned. "I'm not famous for my memory skills, but I don't seem to remember any reason at all that I would need to have a chat with you," he said. "However, I do believe that I need to have a stern talking-to with my grandson... excuse me..."

Tensuke hobbled off, leaving Nami and Chaud alone, both feeling disappointed and betrayed.

"I can't believe Terry did that to you," Nami sighed. "I'm going to have to destroy him."

"Be my guest. I am apparently incapable of doing so myself," Chaud said bitterly. "HE'S got a confession to make to you... _and_ the rest of the world..."

---

"Welcome to the Den Tech City Crossfusion Doubles Battle Tournament!" the telecaster announced. "The final match is about to begin!"

Thunderous applause filled the room, the excitement of the upcoming match palpable.

As the telecaster continued, Nami turned to Chaud. "What do you mean? Does Terry need to tell me something?"

"More things than one," he assured her. "This battle will be interesting, I assure you that."

"What's going on?" she demanded. "This isn't something _bad_, is it?"

"That depends... what do you define as _bad_?"

The timer ticked down to zero, forcing them into battle.

"Chaud, just tell me what's going on!" Nami shouted, immediately bounding into action against Tensuke.

"It's not my place to tell!" Chaud shot back, staying on defense since Terry's little stunt had taken out all of his attacks. "If you really want to know, ask Terry!"

"Ask me what, now?" Terry snapped, fending Chaud off. "Nothing _important_, I hope?"

"You sabotaged him!" Tensuke shouted at his grandson, fighting Nami off. "Terence, that was NOT a good thing to do!"

"Who ever said I _sabotaged_ him!"

"Interfered, impaired, messed up, weakened, whatever you want to call it!" Chaud shot at him, blocking Terry from shocking him. "It wasn't fair!"

"I'm still here, aren't I?" Terry pointed out.

"That's not all!" Chaud shouted.

"WILL SOMEONE _PLEASE_ TELL ME WHAT IS GOING ON?" Nami shouted, shooting shuriken at Terry.

"Remember the article?" Chaud asked her, fending off more attacks.

"Yeah, what about it?" Nami wondered, showering Tensuke with shuriken. "Wait a second..." She froze. "Terry... you didn't have anything to do with it, did you?"

In her momentary lapse of concentration, Tensuke managed to get her on the ground, pummeling her with tops.

"I didn't _write_ it—"

"Oh, yes you did, sonny boy!" Tensuke shot at him. "At it all day, you were!"

"Granddad—"

"YOU _WROTE_ THAT THING!" Nami snapped.

"Uhh... maybe," Terry said guiltily.

Nami rounded on him, leaving Tensuke alone. "I can't BELIEVE you would DO that!"

"Yeah, well, me neither," Terry added, fighting her off. "I didn't do it on purpose!"

"Then explain to me in no uncertain terms WHY that article was published without your name on it!" she raged, pinning him against the wall.

"Nami, I'm sorry!" he told her.

"No. No you're not," she said, her voice quiet. "But you WILL be!"

Before she had a chance to give Terry what he deserved, a complete power outage shut down the dimensional area. The lights went out, the microphones and cameras started sparking and shorting out.

"What's... going on?"

---

Mamoru was still in the shop... slacking off and watching the match with the rest of the crew.

"What do you think, Mo?" one of his coworkers, Angela, asked. "Who's gonna win?"

"It's a fair shot for both of them, I suppose," Mamoru said fairly. "They both got this far."

"What, not rooting for your sister?"

"I AM," he protested. "You didn't ask who I _wanted_ to win, you asked who I _thought_ would win. They're two very different questions."

Angela laughed. "So. You want little sis to win, but you think she might not?"

"NOT what I said."

As they watched the small TV, the image started to go into static.

"Huh?" Angela banged on the top of the TV in a shoddy attempt to fix it. Nothing happened. "What's going on?"

"I don't know..."

As Angela examined the TV a bit more, the entire picture went blank.

"Angela, I don't think it's the TV," Mamoru guessed. "I think the video feed at the Dendome is screwed up..."

"That can't be good," Angela said. "I mean—"

Angela broke off as the world around them went dark, the only light coming from outside.

"What the...? Oh, great. Citywide power outage..."

"Then I guess we can take break now!" Angela decided, leaning back in her chair.

"Good. Tell the boss I'm going to the Dendome," Mamoru said, pulling on his coat.

"Why are you—"

"My little sister is there. If that's where this whole thing started, I want to make sure she's safe," he said, dashing out the door.

---

"What's happening?" Nami asked, moving blindly towards Chaud. The Dendome had no windows, and without the lights on was very, VERY dark.

"I don't know," Chaud said cautiously, "but I have a REALLY bad feeling that we're about to find out... and we're not gonna like it."

"You're right..."

A bang sounded in the dark, a gunshot.

"GET DOWN!" Chaud shouted, pulling Nami down onto the ground. The shot whizzed over their heads, embedding itself in the opposite wall.

"Good call," she gasped softly, still crouching on the ground.

"Who's there?" Chaud shouted into the deafening silence. "Identify yourself!"

The lights flicked back on; the audience was still sitting down, obviously completely unaware that this was for real.

Looking around, nothing seemed out of the ordinary. Perhaps it had just been a pathetic attempt at murder.

"I don't think this is over," Nami said quietly, standing up.

"Neither do I..." Suddenly, as the lights flicked out again, a person appeared in the middle of the arena. A person dressed entirely in black.

A person with a gun and a knife.

"Nami... get out of here," Chaud instructed softly, keeping an eye on the weapons. "Get out now. Take Terry and Tensuke and get reinforcements."

"You don't seriously expect me to just _leave_, do you?" Nami asked him. "Whatever happens, we're in this together."

"Nami, I'm not kidding," Chaud said firmly, "get out of here, and get out now. I don't want you to get hurt."

"Look. I am NOT just leaving you here alone," Nami said. "I won't do it."

"I'm not asking you to. I'm telling you to," Chaud said. "This is too dangerous. Go and get help."

"Reinforcements can't help you now." The person in the center of the arena had finally spoken. It was definitely a male's voice, possibly no older than they were. "No one can get you out of here 'safely'."

Chaud and Nami froze. "Nami, just go," Chaud said, still watching the weaponry in case of an attack.

"No. I won't leave you here."

"Then get Terry to get help from the police or something."

"The police are locked up." The black-clad man in the middle ground spoke up again. "I locked them in their own jail. They can't save you now."

"Then what about the Officials?" Nami suggested.

"Also locked up. I find it interesting that the Official buildings ALL have inaccessible exterior padlocks," the person added. "Rather interesting building design."

Chaud surveyed the arena, Terry and Tensuke were still there, and Nami obviously wasn't leaving if it killed her.

"Do you even know who I am?" he asked. "I'm sure YOU do," he said, turning to Nami.

Looking sideways at her, Chaud saw that she did recognize him.

"You. You killed Angel."

"That I did. And I'm going to kill you too!"

"You aren't gonna kill ANYONE!" Chaud said firmly, stepping between Nami and this man.

"How do _you_ know that? You don't even know who I am."

"I think I do," Chaud said slowly, remembering what Nami had told him. "You're the Black Assassin. Aren't you?"

He nodded. "Very good... for a KID."

Chaud kept watching the assassin's every move. "Funny. You're more frightening as a faceless entity than you are in person," he said.

"Don't push me, boy," the assassin snapped. "I am NOT a person to cross!"

"So I've heard. Who are you out to kill now?" Chaud asked. "The mayor? A world leader? Some random person so the world will take notice of you?"

"If you MUST know... to the contrary of what everyone believes, I'm not out to get you... just your little _girlfriend_ here!"

With that, he rushed at her, easily knocking Chaud aside as he pulled out his knife.

"GET AWAY FROM HER!" Chaud shouted, scrambling to his feet. "Don't you DARE hurt her!"

"It's always the same story with you hero types," the Black Assassin sighed. "You always give _everything_ up to save one person. I don't get it."

"Because you're not a hero type," Nami snapped.

"Oh? Little miss _holier-than-thou_ here finally decides to speak." He turned on her, quick as a flash bringing the blade deadly close to her throat, backing her into the glass enclosure that blocked the audience from the contenders during battles. "So then, tell me. What _does _make one a _hero type_?"

Nami looked torn between whether to answer or attack her assailant. Finally, she closed her eyes, took a deep breath, and said, "Being a hero means being compassionate and willing to help anyone who needs it. It means being a role model for people around the world, and being that leading light that inspires people." She glared at him. "It means being everything you're not."

"Then what exactly am I?" the Black Assassin asked, pinning her against the wall, the knife still threatening her life.

Nami thought for a moment, frazzled under the pressure of the blade. "_Schadenfreude_," she spat at him. ((A/N: For those of you that are wondering, _schadenfreude_ is German. In this case, probably like Sharo-ese or something...))

The assassin looked away for a moment. "I'm not familiar with that word. Care to enlighten me?" he asked, moving closer to her, putting more pressure on her throat.

"_Schadenfreude_. Happiness at the misfortune of others," Nami choked out.

"Ah. If that's what it really means, then yes. That would be me."

"Let me go," Nami demanded, gasping for breath.

"Not just yet, my dear."

"LET HER GO!" Terry chose the moment to dash in and attack the assassin, landing a blow on his neck.

Unfortunately, the assassin was stronger.

"Foolish boy. What on earth do you think you're doing?" With a swift swipe of his hand, the assassin knocked Terry backwards, skidding to a halt on the ground.

"No..." Chaud was still, carefully watching the assassin's blade. Should it go any further, there would inevitably be blood.

"Please... let me go..." Nami closed her eyes, wishing she was anywhere but there.

"I'm not going to. Not until someone in this room gives me a very good reason to," the assassin said, his voice low.

"I'll give you a reason!" The doors burst open, Mamoru dashed up the stairs and onto the arena. "That's my little sister, and I will NOT let you kill another member of my family!"

"Ah. Yes. Mamoru. I should have guessed you'd come round."

"Let my sister go," Mamoru snapped curtly. "I won't let you hurt Nami."

"You couldn't save Angel. What makes you think you can save _her_?" the assassin snapped.

"The fact that I've got six years experience on you," Mamoru shot at him. "Let her go. Now."

"Or what? You give me a lecture?"

"No." Mamoru hit a switch, the dimensional area flew back up, and the cameras went back online. "I fight you."

A laugh escaped the assassin's mask. "You honestly think you can fight me?"

"I'd rather fight you and lose than watch you kill my sister," Mamoru said firmly. "Let her go. Take it all out on me instead," he said, crossfusing.

"Another sacrificial hero type. Wonderful. More _schadenfreude_ for me." Although he ultimately decided on destroying Mamoru, that didn't stop the assassin from leaving a mark on Nami. As he turned to face Mamoru, he left a long, shallow gash on Nami's throat, leaving her to slide to the floor.

"Nami!"

Unsure of whether or not to move, Chaud looked over at Mamoru. Mamoru, jerked his head towards her, giving Chaud enough proof to go to her.

"Nami... are you all right?" he asked softly, crouching beside her.

"I'll be fine... what's going on?" she asked, her breath coming in short gasps, having been deprived of air for three full minutes.

"Mamoru's here. He's fighting the assassin..."

"WHAT!" Nami struggled to get to her feet, Chaud stopped her quickly.

"What do you think you're doing!"

"Helping my brother!" Nami said incredulously, "what does it look like?"

"Nami, you're bleeding, we need to get you out of here," Chaud told her. "To a hospital or something..."

"It's not deep," Nami assured him frantically, "I'm fine, we've gotta help him!"

"I'll help him if you stay here and don't move," Chaud told her. "Please. I don't want you to hurt yourself."

Nami gazed sadly at him. "All right... but you'd better win."

Chaud smiled, crossfusing. "I will, Nami. I will..."

With Mamoru and Chaud's combined efforts, the Black Assassin beat a hasty retreat. Stopping at the door, he turned around.

"With my reappearance, I call out Johnny Thirteen!" he announced to the confused crowd. "If I do not see him in 24 hours... someone will die. And one more person will die for every hour after 24 that I do not seen the one who calls himself Johnny Thirteen!"

With that, the assassin dashed out the door.

"We're really just gonna let him go?" Terry asked.

"What other choice to we have?" Chaud pointed out bitterly. "Hopefully, when everyone saw the broadcast, they all locked their doors."

"Who's this Johnny Thirteen character he wants to see?" Nami asked, still on the ground at the edge of the arena.

"I don't know... I'll do a search on him later... for now, let's get you home... we've got dinner to get ready for with Chaud's dad, remember?" Mamoru said. "Let's get outta here..."

9


	38. Mr Blaze

7

Chapter Thirty-Eight:

Mr. Blaze

"Soo... what do you think, Mo? Am I gonna live?" Nami asked, sitting motionless on a bench in the stadium lobby. Mamoru had unearthed the first-aid kit there, and had insisted on bandaging Nami up before they left.

"I think the odds are in your favor," Mamoru assured her, fixing a bandage over the spot. "It's not deep, you'll be fine. Just... no more fighting. Not for a while, at least. _Especially_ no more crossfusing."

"NAMI!" Ailee, Raize, and Sean came bursting through the doors, pale and confused. "Omigosh, Nami, are you okay?" Ailee asked in a panic.

"I'm fine..."

"We heard a gunshot," Sean added, also terrified. "Did anyone else get hurt?"

"No, everyone's fine," Chaud assured them.

"Good..."

"I don't get it," Raize said, sitting on the bench armrest next to Nami.

"What, why your sister's not dead?" Ailee asked.

"NO—well, yeah, sort of, but..." He shook his head, looking at the bandage on Nami's throat. "I mean... this guy's a world-renowned killer, and he just gave you a scratch? I don't know about you, but that's a little anticlimactic for that kind of guy."

"I agree," Nami sighed, "but _I'm_ not complaining."

"Come on, guys, we've got dinner," Mamoru reminded them.

"Unfortunately," Raize scoffed. "Ridiculous, really."

"How so?"

"What's the point?" Sean asked. "We go, we meet him, then what?"

"We drop stain remover on a puppy and tell the six-year-old down the street that Spot's gone," Raize suggested seriously.

"Stop being so immature!" Ailee snapped. "Act your age, not your shoe size."

---

"There CANNOT be nothing! There HAS to be something on this guy!" Nami lamented, staring at the blank screen in disbelief. She and Chaud had spent the past hour searching for a site on Johnny Thirteen. "There is no possible way on Earth that there isn't a single reference to him..."

"I would think the DNN journalists would have at least _mentioned_ him in something. Match updates, latest news, _something_," Chaud agreed, searching online databases with his PET. "This is unbelievable."

"And it's only gonna make our job harder," ProtoMan added. "Then again, with tomorrow night being New Year's Eve, what did we expect?"

"An info site," Nami sighed, shutting the computer down. "A past news article, archived reference, something..." With that, she flopped down on her bed. "Ow..."

"Be careful," Sen belatedly reminded her.

"Thanks..." She frowned at the clock, showing 3 PM. "I... hate... knives."

"Don't we all." Chaud crossed his arms, shaking his head. "I didn't think he'd make such a public appearance. I mean, the entire city was watching that—I assume."

"Probably," ProtoMan said. "Considering you two were all over the news..."

"Don't remind me," Nami moaned, clamping a pillow over her head. "I have half a mind to just live in my room until some meteor decides to crash down on all the paparazzi of the world..."

"Don't say that," Chaud said wryly, sitting on the bed beside her. "That'd be no fun."

"But it'd be safe," Nami pointed out.

Chaud shook his head. "We're in agreement that we think all paparazzi deserve nothing less than to die a slow and utterly painful death. But that's just it. We _think_ that. There's not much we can _do_ about it."

Nami shrugged. "I guess you're right..." She sat up, smiling at him. "When are you planning on going home?"

"Soon, I guess," Chaud said, frowning. "Earning some brownie points with my dad couldn't be a bad thing."

"I _hope_ so." Nami stared at the blank computer screen on her desk.

"What?"

"I keep thinking that there's something we're forgetting about Johnny..."

"How so? We only just heard about him," Chaud pointed out. "Besides, we'll get some info eventually... I bet you _anything_ that Officials will put together a conference within the next two weeks that I'm expected to ditch school to go to so I can give firsthand accounts," he added.

She smiled. "Have fun with that."

"Yeah." He got up. "Hey, I should go home..."

"Okay..." Nami stood up too, taking his hand. "I'm sure everything will be fine," she said. "Don't worry."

"I'm not worried," he sighed. "I'm just... nervous."

"Relax," she told him. "We'll come by around six, 'k?"

"Okay..."

---

Three hours later, Chaud stared out the window from his bedroom, watching for the Hallissys. "I CANNOT believe this is actually happening..."

All five of them appeared out of the darkness onto the doorstep, Raize ringing the doorbell.

At the sound of the bell, Chaud raced down the stairs, skidding to a halt in front of the door, pulling it open.

"Hi, Chaud!" Nami smiled brightly. "Can we...?"

"Yeah..."

"You ok?" Mamoru whispered as he passed Chaud.

"Yeah... just nervous."

"Don't worry, this shouldn't be brain surgery or anything," Raize added cheerily.

"You. Quiet. All night," Ailee warned him.

"What!?"

"If you MUST speak, make it a useful contribution to the conversation," Mamoru concurred, casting a Look in Raize's direction that clearly told him to shut up.

"Fine." Raize glared at them for a moment, then promptly snapped back to reality as someone walked into the room; the cook.

"Hello!" she said cheerily. "Mr. Blaze just called me, he wanted to tell you that he'd be late to dinner tonight, and he wants you to start without him."

She walked out, leaving the other six speechless.

"My dad... is _late_?" Chaud asked in shock.

"I take it this is unusual." Mamoru led the way into the dining room, where they discovered that someone, undoubtedly Mr. Blaze himself, had arranged name cards throughout the table.

"Um... wow... it's not like this EVERY night, is it?" Nami asked, casually examining one of the cards.

"No..."

Once everyone had found a place, Chaud finally saw the purpose of the cards. "It's so he can remember your names," he told them.

"Really?" Sean asked incredulously. "He could have just asked."

"True. But still..."

With a sigh, he took the place across from Nami. Looking down the table, he thought he saw a second purpose of the arrangement.

Mamoru was conveniently placed at the opposite end of the rectangular table, directly across from where Mr. Blaze himself usually sat. On the long side of the table, Raize and Sean were grouped together with Chaud, Raize closer to Mamoru, Sean in the middle, and Chaud next to his father. Ailee and Nami were together on the other side, Ailee next to Mamoru. Once Mr. Blaze got home, Nami would be sitting right next to him.

Perhaps this _wasn't_ just a name issue.

"Um... this is... nice," Ailee said, desperately trying to start a conversation in the uneasy silence. No one responded for a moment.

"Oh, will everyone just relax?" Nami sighed. "It's dinner. _Hardly_ the end of the world, guys."

Chaud didn't hear her. He was busy speculating the point of their positions.

Mamoru was obviously across from Mr. Blaze since they were both in charge of their households. But putting him next to Ailee confused him. _Why would he put the twins together? They're the two oldest..._

Sean was closer to Mr. Blaze than Raize, which could have meant that he'd heard Raize talk before, and was intent on making Sean say something.

And, of course, his father would NEVER have put him and Nami on the same side. He wanted to keep them separate, but at close range.

_God forbid we kill someone or anything._

A sharp kick from Nami under the table snapped him back to reality.

"Chaud. They're just name cards," she told him. "It's not a big deal. Get over it." She smiled as the door opened. Mr. Blaze had arrived.

"Hello!" His cheerfulness was unusual enough for the entire room to notice as he sat down. Looking around the table in a slight confusion, he asked, "Is something wrong?"

No one immediately answered him, finally Mamoru had the sense to speak up. "Nothing, just a little edgy..."

"No need to be 'edgy' here, but I can imagine that you would all be very hungry."

"Absolutely!" Raize said without thinking. Mamoru kicked him too. _Lucky thing, too..._

The awkward silence ensued well after they had started eating. Looking down the table, Chaud noticed that it wasn't just silence. He saw Ailee and Mamoru subtly communicating in what could only be described as a sort of wordless twin language.

"So then!" Mr. Blaze finally said. "Tell me about the match."

"Wha—you weren't there?" Chaud asked, almost disappointed.

"Not for the last bit of it, I'm afraid," he sighed. "After the power cut out I was escorted out."

After a few minutes of him and Nami piecing everything together, Mr. Blaze finally cut in. "Wait—there's another assassin out on the loose?"

"We're not sure if Johnny Thirteen is an assassin, or just some random person," Mamoru clarified.

"But he's still out there. And we don't know who he is," Ailee added.

"And no one got hurt?"

"Nami got cut, but that's the only known injury," Chaud told him.

"I noticed—that bandage of yours."

"Yeah..." Nami laughed a little. "I'm glad no one else got hurt."

"Indeed... has anyone tried to find out anything more about Johnny Thirteen?" Mr. Blaze asked.

"We looked him up," Chaud said. "Nothing."

"Not a single reference?"

"Not one," Nami said. "It's almost like he doesn't really exist."

"I'm sure we'll find out soon enough, won't we. 24 hours..."

"I wonder if he'll even pull through and show up," Ailee said.

"He will," Nami sighed. "Criminals seem to like working together against a common enemy."

"Which would be us," Mamoru added.

"Perhaps he's not an assassin, just suppose," Nami suggested. "What then?"

"We assume he's some master of grand larceny, or the like," Chaud told her. "Since he was 'called out' by the Black Assassin, we know he's a criminal."

"What if he's not?" Mr. Blaze asked, startling everyone. "Say he's not a criminal."

"How are we supposed to know?" Chaud asked.

Mr. Blaze looked questioningly at his son. "Innocent until proven guilty, I trust, is the standard belief."

"True... but what does that mean for us?" Nami asked. "We treat Johnny like a lost child until we find blood on his hands and a corpse in a back alley?

Mr. Blaze stared at her in shock. _Oh, Nami... what on earth are you thinking!?_

"I don't mean that we should treat him as an innocent," Mr. Blaze said icily, "simply that we should collect more evidence until we jump to conclusions. What _are_ they teaching you at that school?"

"Things we'll need if we want a _good_ occupation," Chaud said, jumping in before Nami could further upset Mr. Blaze.

"Such as?"

"Math, science, English—"

"Second languages, history, and networking," Nami added, completely nullifying Chaud's rescue.

"Why on earth would you need to understand history?" Mr. Blaze asked curiously.

"History has a habit," she told him. "And that is to repeat itself, quite often, in fact. And so, if we're going to avoid making the same mistakes as the Trojan War, the Boston Tea Party, and World Wars, we have to study them."

He stared at her again. "I see..."

"_Aimes-tu l'histoire, Monsieur ?_" Raize asked scathingly, receiving another kick, from Ailee this time.

"Sorry?" Mr. Blaze asked. "I didn't quite catch—"

"It's nothing! Never mind," Mamoru told him firmly, shooting another Look at Raize.

"If you say so."

The room fell back into silence as they continued eating.

"Are there any suspects?" Mr. Blaze asked finally. "For the Black Assassin or Johnny Thirteen?"

"None that we can think of," Chaud answered. "The Black Assassin is definitely male, though."

"And we can assume that Johnny is too," Nami added.

"What if Johnny Thirteen was a girl?"

This statement brought a completely different kind of silence to the table. Not awkward silence, but confused silence.

"If... a woman?" Chaud asked

"Not even a fully grown woman, an adolescent girl," Mr. Blaze corrected.

"What do you mean by that?" Nami asked, sounding more shocked than everyone else.

"What do I _mean_? Exactly what I _said_," Mr. Blaze snapped. "What if Johnny wasn't a man at all?"

"_I_ think Johnny would be male, adolescent or otherwise," Mamoru said.

"What do you think, Chaud?" Nami asked.

Chaud sighed. "This is the disadvantage about work as an Official... there's so much conjecture and what-iffing involved..."

"So?"

"Yes, I think it's possible that Johnny could be female. No, I don't think it's a very high possibility, and I don't think we have enough information to make that kind of assumption."

"I... see..."

"But with all common sense, would it even be logical?" Mamoru asked. "For him—or her—or whatever—to be a girl?"

"Eventually, you get to a point in life when you've seen _everything_," Mr. Blaze said. "It wouldn't surprise me."

"It'd shock me," Ailee said truthfully, stabbing at a potato.

"Why an adolescent girl?" The whole table turned to look at Sean, who hadn't said anything else all night.

"Sorry?"

"Why would you think Johnny was a teenage girl?" Sean asked, looking Mr. Blaze square in the eyes. "I mean... it's a little..._ out there_."

"True. But I think it's a possibility."

"So then, you could also say that Johnny Thirteen is a chinchilla, and _that_ would be a possibility too, since we don't know anything?"

Raize quickly turned his laughter into a sneeze, getting kicked again by both of the twins.

"I'm... not sure I'd pin _chinchilla_ as a definite alternative," Mr. Blaze said slowly, "but I do suppose anything goes at this point."

"At _what_ point?" Nami asked. "We've only heard about him maybe six hours ago, what point can we possibly have already reached?"

Mr. Blaze eyed her suspiciously. "For you, young miss Hallissy, the point of no return."

Nami frowned. "Wh... What?"

"The point of no return. Everyone has secrets. And, in time, of course... all secrets are revealed."

It took everyone a moment to completely understand what he was getting at.

"You're accusing _me_ of being Johnny Thirteen?" she asked.

"Must I spell it out?"

"You can't be serious," Chaud shot at him, indignant. "What grounds do you have to make that kind of accusation?!"

"I don't."

Chaud stared in shock at his father. "So, then, it's just some wild guess?!"

"If you would choose to call it that."

"If it were true, why would the Black Assassin try to kill me?" Nami asked. "If he was looking for me, why didn't he just kidnap me right then?"

"You tell me," Mr. Blaze suggested calmly.

"That's enough!" Ailee snapped. "Nami's not a criminal!"

"SOMEONE at this table has to be," Mr. Blaze said, still inexplicably calm.

"Again, on what grounds?!" Chaud barked.

"Angel."

The entire table went silent, there was an unmistakable taboo about the name that reminded Chaud that Angel was dead.

"What about him?" Mamoru asked, deliberately stressing each syllable.

"He was killed, wasn't he? By that Black Assassin."

"What on earth does THAT have to do with anything?" Ailee asked.

"Father, stop this—" Chaud was cut off by his father.

"I wouldn't know. Tell me what happened."

No one spoke.

"Why would the Black Assassin choose such a seemingly random family as yours?"

"_Seemingly_ random?" Sean sighed.

"I would assume he had help."

"Nami would NEVER have helped _him_ kill Angel," Mamoru snapped.

"Then explain to me how this Angel came to be killed out of the blue," Mr. Blaze said, undaunted.

No one could answer him.

"Unless you were a family incredibly well known in a crime ring – which I would not doubt," he added, "it seems to me like someone had to have singled him out. Someone who knew him well... like a sibling. Perhaps a sister, maybe?"

"_Father!_"

"I beg your pardon?!" Ailee demanded.

"Not you. Nami." Just by saying her name,

"_I did NOT help the Black Assassin kill my brother!"_ Nami shouted, her eyes filled with tears.

"Nami..." Chaud could see it was taking all of her composure and self-control to keep from dissolving into tears.

She didn't answer him, instead she quickly got up, and rushed up the stairs to the sanctity of a bathroom.

The silence at the table was suffocating. Sean looked up the stairs, as though he was debating following his sister up there. Mamoru and Ailee both looked at each other, then quickly turned away, staring at their half-empty plates. Chaud himself was upset with his father beyond words.

Raize, on the other hand, appeared to be the only one with the strength to say something. A look in his eye Chaud had never seen before, Raize glared at Mr. Blaze.

"I would expect that you, _sir_, would have a better disposition around guests. Those scars run deep in all of us."

Mamoru didn't try to shut him up, nor did Ailee or Sean.

"Although, I notice your _wife_ isn't here."

Mr. Blaze looked shocked, almost offended. What was Raize thinking? He knew as well as Chaud himself did that Mrs. Blaze was long dead.

"Please tell her we said hello. When you see her next, of course."

Mamoru and Ailee both stood up without a word. Ailee headed up the stairs to get Nami.

"As wonderful as this night has been," Mamoru said darkly, "I think we should stop wasting your time here. You're a busy man, and probably have better things to do than put up with us."

Raize and Sean took the cue, standing up too as Ailee and Nami came back downstairs.

"I'll walk you out," Chaud said, still in utter shock. The six of them walked out of the completely silent room.

---

"Guys... I am SO sorry," Chaud told them as they walked out of the dining room.

"It's not your fault," Nami said softly. "I'll talk to you tomorrow, 'k?"

"Okay..."

The Hallissys left quietly. Chaud closed the door behind them, sliding down to the floor, his back against the wall.

"I canNOT believe this just happened..."

7


	39. Welcome Back

13

Chapter Thirty-Nine:

Welcome Back

"Chaud...? What are you doing on the floor?" Mr. Blaze walked into the room, still completely nonchalant about what had happened.

"What am I DOING?" Chaud asked quietly, his head in his hands. "I'm wondering whether or not they'll ever speak to me again."

"Oh? Why's that?"

"Because you just ACCUSED Nami of being a criminal!" Chaud snapped, looking up.

"I—"

"DO NOT deny it! You blatantly accused my girlfriend of murder!"

"Chaud, I don't want you to take any chances with that girl," Mr. Blaze said.

"I took a chance when I saved her from FlashMan. I took a chance when I told her I love her. I take chances every day when I walk out the door!" Chaud shouted. "How do I know that there's no plane about to come crashing straight down on my head?! I take chances every day, and so do you! You know it!"

"I take chances when I know it's safe," Mr. Blaze said evenly.

"Then it's not a chance! A chance is a risk, and there's no risk if you know what's going to happen!"

"Then perhaps I don't take as many chances as you do. Just keep away from her."

"I. Love. Her," Chaud said slowly. "I love her. You can't stop that. No matter how much you hate it, no matter what you do to try and get involved with it, I love her!"

"I don't want to get involved with your love life—" Mr. Blaze reasoned.

"Oh, please! You have done NOTHING but get involved! It's so obvious that you can't stand the fact that, for once in my life, I'm with someone I _care_ about!"

"You can't possibly care about her!"

"I DO care about her!" Chaud replied angrily.

"_Why_ did you suddenly decide to fall in love?" Mr. Blaze spat, his surreal calmness evaporating into thin air. "And with _her_, out of all the girls in the world, why _her_?!"

"Because _Nami_ is the only person I can truly see myself happy with for the rest of my life," Chaud told him. "I will love her as long as I live."

"You say that now, well and good, but wait just a few years—"

"What if I didn't wait? What if I ran off with her tomorrow?! What then?" Chaud demanded.

"You could never do that," Mr. Blaze said confidently.

"I can tell you exactly what you would do," Chaud said, ignoring his father's comment. "You would try and track us down, and when you couldn't find us, you would rage around and be upset, but in the end you would forget about us. Forget about me. Like you forgot about Mother!"

"I would never— Chaud, I couldn't forget my own son!"

"If you never saw me again—if I died tomorrow, would you even care?!"

"Chaud—"

"_Why _do you hate me?" Chaud asked simply. "Why can't you stand to see me happy?"

"I do not _hate_ you," Mr. Blaze said. "I don't want you to be upset."

"It's about Mother." Chaud was no longer yelling, but spoke with an intensity rivaling Raize's earlier statement. "Mother died, and you actually loved her."

"Stop this..."

"So that's it... You just don't want me to have what you lost."

Both were silent; they both knew he was right.

"And that's the reason you hate her."

"Chaud—"

"Don't even start," Chaud shot at him, "I can't put up with this right now!"

Mr. Blaze did nothing as his son walked up the stairs, distraught and wondering how on earth he would ever face his father again.

Right outside the door, having stopped when they had heard Mr. Blaze's voice, were all five Hallissys. They had overheard the entire conversation.

Raize stared at the door, almost unable to take it all in. "Great Scott, they have more issues than _we_ do..."

Nami looked longingly back at the door, as though she wanted to go back inside.

"Let's go, Nami..." Mamoru put his arm around her shoulders. "Let's go. They've got a lot to think about... and so do we. Let's go home..."

---

With a sigh, Chaud fell backwards onto his bed.

"How'd it go?" ProtoMan asked anxiously.

"It was a complete catastrophe."

"It can't possibly have been THAT bad—"

"He thinks Nami is Johnny Thirteen."

"... You've GOT to be kidding. Even for your dad, that's... wow."

"I know... do you think they'll still speak to me?"

"Of course they will," ProtoMan assured him. "After all, not to play the blame game or anything, but... your dad said all that. Not you."

"Yeah... but still..."

"I heard someone come up the stairs. What was that?"

"Nami ran up here when he started attacking Angel's death."

"Good lord... she was _crying_?"

"Yeah..." Chaud stared idly at the ceiling as the streetlamp outside flicked on, illuminating a tree branch. "I really want to talk to her... but she didn't want to talk..."

"Talk to her tomorrow," ProtoMan said. "She'll probably want to think about what's happened. Sleep on it..."

Chaud sighed, still contemplating the evening's events. "I know..."

"You should too. Listen, tomorrow's New Year's. You'll see her in Electown Square, like we planned."

---

"I know I'll see him tomorrow... but—"

"Hon, you've had a tough night," Sen said. "Just think about things."

"... Okay." Nami collapsed into bed, rubbing her neck.

She pulled the covers up to her chin, trying to let the soft sound of traffic outside the window lull her to sleep.

_I can't believe this..._

Mamoru looked through the crack in Nami's door. She was lying down, a gentle fall of tears staining her pillow.

Silently, he slipped into her room, closing the door.

Nami sat up, still crying.

Mamoru sat next to her on the bed, his arms around her shoulders. "It's okay... relax. It'll all be ok... you know it will be..."

---

"Happy Almost New Year, sis!" Raize burst into her room quarter after noon. She was still asleep. "Wow. And I thought _I_ slept late."

"Let her alone, Raize," Ailee said softly. "Just let her sleep..."

"Aw... I wanted to take her to the park..."

"Why?"

"Brotherly-sister talk," Raize said unconvincingly, nodding emphatically.

Ailee shook her head. "You lie like a dog on a rug."

"Yeah... whatever..."

Nami sat up, rubbing her eyes.

"Ah! She lives!" Raize bounded over to her. "C'mon, Sleeping Beauty, we're going to the park!"

"Now?" Nami asked blearily, still half asleep.

"No, not now, but sometime within the next hour would be nice," Raize suggested. "Pleeeze?"

"Whafor?"

"Brotherly-sister talk is what he told me," Ailee said, continuing on her way down the hall.

That woke Nami up right away.

"No way! The last time you and I had one of those, the Christmas tree ended up on fire," she reminded him.

"That's why we're going the park!"

"What, so there's _more_ trees to burn, or so you can get more mistletoe to humiliate me with? Not going!"

"Fine!"

With as much energy as he'd had five minutes ago, Raize bounced out of the room.

"Okay..." With that, Nami got dressed as Sen booted up.

"Mornin'!" Sen said merrily. "Happy—"

"Almost New Year, I know."

"Wow. Look who's cheerful today," Sen pouted.

"Tired. I need sleep..."

"We're leaving for the Square by about five, so you have a while yet. And guess what?!" she asked, bouncing up and down.

"Oh, dear God. Now what?"

"The Meuniers are coming!"

"REALLY!?" Nami leapt out of bed. "Are you SERIOUS?!"

"Yup! Raoul and Mireille should be here by four o'clock," Sen added. "So you might want to be up by then, 'k?"

"Definitely!"

---

The doorbell rang, Raize and Sean raced each other down the stairs to answer it. Sean won, and opened the door.

"Hi, Chaud!" Sean piped. "Come in, we're just getting ready to leave!"

"Thanks..." Still worried about the effect of the previous night, Chaud took a seat on the couch, waiting for the rest of the gang. "Where is everyone?"

"Oh, our friends—the Meuniers—just got here, and so everyone's upstairs with them," Raize explained. "It shouldn't take them long."

It didn't. Ailee and Mamoru came down the stairs, closely followed by Nami and two unfamiliar people: a tall, athletic man about Mamoru's age, and a blonde girl who appeared to be Raoul's sister, no older than nineteen.

"Oh, hi Chaud!" Ailee squeaked, sounding excited. "This is Raoul and Mireille Meunier, by the way," she added, motioning to the unfamiliar pair.

"Hello," Raoul said with a smile. The accent in his deep voice was unmistakably Netopian, apparently he had only just learned English.

"Hi! I've heard much about you from Nami," Mireille said, her English slightly better than her brother's. Mireille's tone of voice was one of those that are unmistakable of all popular girls. Nami turned pink at this statement.

"What did you say about me?" Chaud asked her suspiciously. She laughed, tossing her arms around him.

"Nothing too bad," she assured him with a kiss on the cheek. "C'mon, if we want to get to the square before the rest of the country, we'd better go!"

---

The walk down to the tram station was eventful, to say the least. Sen and ProtoMan finally made up, and spent the time chatting about—of all things—school.

"I don't think I've _ever_ heard her talk this much," Nami said, pretending not to eavesdrop on the Navis' conversation.

"Ditto ProtoMan," Chaud added. "This is... awkward..."

"Slightly."

"Nami!" Raoul came over to them, towering over the pair with his height. "I hear interesting things from the rest about you!"

"Oh, boy... Raize, right?" Nami sighed.

"Of course," Raoul said. "What did you expect?"

"A level of maturity befitting those involved..."

"Enough moping!" Mireille squealed, squeezing herself between Raoul and Nami. "The new year is coming! Be happy, _mes amis!_"

"Of course, Mireille," Raoul laughed. "I was just telling them of the things we hear from Raize."

"I've heard all that," Mireille scoffed. "What have we learned about Raize? _Not_ the most reliable of sources!"

All four of them laughed as they got onto the tram, the two Meuniers constantly slipping back into Netopian to talk about _le nouvel an_.

"I can't believe six months went by so fast," Nami sighed, leaning back in her seat on the metro. "It's almost too good to be true."

"Almost," Mireille pointed out. "Almost seems to be the key word there."

Nami laughed. "Why did you guys come out this far, anyway?"

"We heard about your little tournament, and tried to come down in time to see it," Raoul said. "But I was busy... and Mireille was heading up the PTSA meetings."

"I'm a substitute teacher, you see," Mireille added. "And since I'm on school staff, I get to help out with all the school functions... like PTSA."

"So we came now instead," Raoul finished. "Don't tell me you're not happy to see us?"

"Are you kidding? I've missed you so much!" Nami said. "How is everyone else?"

Mireille took a deep breath. "Christophe is fine, Marina just finished her finals, Catherine and Daryl finally got the deed and the rights to move into your old house together, and Blaire and Gil are working to within an inch of their lives to find a good college."

Chaud stared at Mireille for a second. "Nami, how many people do you _know_?"

She laughed. "Too many..."

"And they _all_ say hi," Raoul added. "And they hope you have a wonderful new year."

Nami smiled as Raize came bouncing over to them. "Hi!"

"NOW what?" Mireille snapped.

"I said 'hi'," Raize said slowly, "not 'I'm here to annoy you' or anything!"

"Yeah, but knowing _you_..."

Across the car, Mamoru and Ailee watched Raize carefully.

"What do you think?" Mamoru asked.

Ailee scrutinized her little brother carefully. "Hm. Five dollars says it's got something to do with pyrotechnics and explosions."

"No way," Mamoru shot down. "Five bucks says it's girls."

Ailee gasped, slightly offended. "He wouldn't dare!"

Mamoru nodded. "You know him. And so do I. That's my bet. You in or not?"

---

Once the gang had reached Electown Square, the first thing they noticed beyond the crowd of people was the tight security. No one was taking any chances with the Black Assassin and the so-called Johnny Thirteen on the loose.

"What's with all the security cameras?" Chaud asked. "If they're so paranoid about this, why don't they just set the whole town on lockdown?"

"It's New Year's Eve," Mamoru said jovially. "Everyone's too hyped up to bother herding everyone back home."

"True. So they're just going to watch our every move instead, so there will be something of a witness if we all die," Ailee agreed.

Raize, Mamoru, Ailee, and Raoul broke off in one direction, leaving Sean, Nami, and Chaud with Mireille.

"Why do Mamoru and Ailee want to stay with Raize so much?" Chaud asked.

"Oh, it's this stupid age-old bet they've got," Mireille explained. "Every New Year's Eve, Raize always ends up doing something incredibly stupid."

"Every New Year's... and every other day too," Nami sighed.

"Whatever. But every year, they bet each other five dollars over what the stupid thing is."

"Really?"

"Yup," Nami nodded. "And for the past fourteen years, Mamoru has won."

"How long have they been betting on him?"

"Fourteen years. And I predict that Mamoru will win again," Nami said confidently.

---

Hours later, just as Nami had predicted, Mamoru won. Raize had picked out a group of girls on the side of the street, and five minutes after he'd starting hitting on them, he realized that they were all on dates with college football players. Chaud, Nami, and the rest came towards them, just in time to see Raize being thrown out of the door of a building.

"What did I tell you?" Mamoru asked, scraping his brother off the snowy ground. "I told you it would be girls, Ailee."

Ailee scowled at him, handing him five dollars, as promised.

"Win again?" Sean asked.

"Yup," Mamoru sighed. "Although this year I almost wish I hadn't... you okay?"

"I... think so... MAN, I hate football..." Raize shook his head vigorously, trying to recover from the combination of slaps and whacks upside the head that he'd received.

"How well do you know your brother, Mamoru?" Raoul asked rhetorically, laughing. "You never change, Raize."

"So I've been told..." In a feeble attempt to stand up, Raize looked up at the clock, and realized that his vision was too blurred to see it. "How long 'til next year?"

"Three and half minutes," Ailee told him, helping him up, "but in your state, you probably won't last for longer than five."

"But I wanna stay..."

Mamoru shook his head. "Too bad, pal. Once that clock hits midnight, we'd better get you home. And _everyone_ is coming with."

Nami sighed. "And I was actually looking forward to this. Oh well..."

Chaud pulled her off to the side, out of the sight of everyone else. "Every year? He gets so badly hurt that you have to go home?"

"Not so much badly hurt," she reasoned. "Just... okay, once he got us kicked out of a party."

"... Wow."

She shook her head cynically. "That's Raize for ya..."

"Three and a half minutes, huh?" Chaud asked.

Nami smiled. "Probably less by now..."

"Then I should ask you now..."

"What?" she asked, sounding worried.

"I just... need to know if you're okay... after last night. I mean, my dad was pretty vicious—"

"It's okay! Really!" Nami said, cutting him off. "Don't worry about it, okay? Promise?"

Chaud sighed. "Promise..."

"Now, really, do you want to go into the new year worrying about something we can't change?" Nami asked, pulling him towards her.

"I—I guess not." He smiled, vaguely aware of the fact that the entire crowd seemed to be watching the clock.

Beaming, Nami kissed him as the clock hit midnight.

"HAPPY NEW YEAR!" The shouts rang out across the square, just as Mamoru called out for Nami.

"HEY! We gotta get Raize home! Like, now! C'mon!" he shouted, breaking them up.

With a resigned sigh, Nami turned around, walking back to her family. She hesitated for a moment, then looked back at Chaud. "Coming?"

"Yea—"

_BEEP. BEEP. BEEP._

"No. Official stuff," ProtoMan cut in.

"On New Year's Eve, too..."

"Okay..."

"NAMI! Hurry up!" Ailee shouted.

"Coming!" Nami ran off towards the metro, aiding Raize in his unsuccessful efforts to walk on his own.

Still thrilled, Chaud checked the message that had set off his PET.

_Beat duty. You're in the square now, right? That's your beat._

"What's beat duty?" Chaud asked.

"Basic police patrol," ProtoMan said. "Go around and make sure all the shops are locked up for the night, I suppose. The rest of the police workers must be busy tonight."

"I bet they are..."

Deciding to make this as quick as possible while still doing his job, Chaud went around knocking on the doors, receiving absolutely no response. Everyone was already home.

"This... is... SO... pointless."

"True that may be, but it's still our job," ProtoMan said. "Maether calling."

Captain Augustus Maether was the head of the Den Tech City Official department, and therefore was Chaud's boss. His dark eyes and nearly identically colored hair immediately came into view on the PET, battle scars as clearly visible as ever.

"Blaze? How's it coming?" Maether asked strictly.

"Spectacular," Chaud sighed. "There's absolutely no one out here."

"Excellent, our sources show the same. I'm glad we managed to get everyone out of public sight in time," Maether continued, completely missing the irony in Chaud's voice.

"Are 'we' really that worried about Johnny Thirteen?"

"According to some old urban legends we unearthed from some of the older locals, he comes out after midnight."

"Urban _legends_? He's local?" Somehow, he didn't think that legends were going to cut it, even if Johnny turned out to be a culprit of no more than petty vandalism.

"All legends have some basis in fact, Blaze. Go on and head home. Happy new year."

This well-wishing was extremely uncharacteristic, and Chaud supposed it just had something to do with being tired. Maether was not an old man, but he wasn't as young as he'd used to be.

A shadow darted overhead. "What was that?"

Three more shadows leapt the rooftops. More and more shadowy forms converged on the roof until it was clear that this was NOT an empty square.

"What's going on?" he shouted. "Who's there?"

---

"Carter. Where are you?" a male voice asked.

"With Cardinal. All accounted for, Darque?"

"No one wants to miss the comeback," the man called Darque answered. "What can I say?"

"We're running five-by-five since the last three are stuck together, and we're already a good few hours late. He has yet to do anything, though," Carter said reassuringly. "All here?"

Ten different but distinct voices counted off, all men.

"Great. So the rest are coming."

"They'll be here in a moment—"

Another voice intercepted them.

"Patch here! I'm with the other two," he said.

"All right men. All we have to do is wait."

"Wait for who?!" Chaud had been able to make out the last few sentences of the gang's conversation. "Who are you!?"

"Will someone shut the kid up!" Darque ordered, the clear leader. "Rage, go do your thing."

"Fine..." A single man descended the rooftops to face him.

"What—who are you?" Chaud repeated, looking at what should have been a face.

Instead, there was something of a cross between a Navi's mask and a fencing hood. Two eyes, a nose, and a mouth were clearly visible, but there was no discerning any eye color or distinctive facial features. For all Chaud could see, Rage might look exactly like he did himself.

"Oh, come on. You just heard my name," Rage snapped. "I know you Official types are smarter than that."

"I meant, who are you working for? There's more of you up there!"

"There's only one of _me_," Rage corrected. "However, my... _coworkers_ are up there."

"How many?"

"RAGE! SHUT HIM UP!" Carter's voice shot at him.

"Aw, you gotta ruin all my fun, don't you, Carter!"

"We thought you liked blowing things up, that's why you're here!" Darque cut in impatiently. "Now do your job before Patch and the others get here!"

With a resigned grumble of agreement, Rage shot something flaming hot out of nowhere.

"CHAUD!" His PET flew out of his hand, skidding across the square at the most inconvenient of times.

"Excellent. Explosions AND disarming. I wouldn't have expected less," and unfamiliar voice said.

Rage looked up. "Lucky Seven, you know me, Eleven."

"I prefer Connor." He leapt down as well.

"Where's Patch and—"

"They're coming."

"WHO ARE YOU TALKING ABOUT!?" Chaud demanded, slowly getting up and extinguishing a small flame on his collar.

"Our friends."

"A name or a number?" Chaud asked.

"Ooh, he's catching on," Carter laughed, descending a lamppost to the ground. "We've all got a name, and we've all got a number."

"Sound familiar?" Connor asked. "We've got One through Eleven here. Who are we missing?"

"Patch Twelve," Rage said. "And...?"

"... Johnny Thirteen... that's who you're waiting for," Chaud said incredulously.

"What, you thought he was a loner? With a number like that?" Rage asked.

"Numbers don't magically appear outta nowhere, kiddo," Connor told him, also shooting something at him, but colder than Rage's shots. Chaud went through the window of a shop, setting off the alarm at once.

"Way to bust us, Connor!" Carter shouted.

"I'm on it." Yet another person hit the ground, dashing off into the shop. Within seconds, the alarm was shut off.

"I see you've still got it, Patch," Rage said, impressed.

"I'm not as old as you think," Patch retorted. "He's coming. What's everyone else's excuse for being here?"

"No one wanted to miss the reunion," Connor said. "Or a chance to show up the supposedly best Official division in the world.

"Why 'supposedly'?" Chaud asked, carefully stepping behind the door frame and out of their line of fire.

"Smart move, kid," Carter said. "Supposedly, because we're about to kill you, and there's no one to stop us."

"But—"

"It's true." The rest of the gang unexpectedly arrived on the snow and glass covered ground. "No one here on the street, and the only witnesses are security cameras."

"Nothing I can't handle," Patch added.

"You're _all_ killers?" Chaud asked in disbelief, knowing how idiotic he sounded, backing further into the shop. This only seemed to encourage his adversaries.

"Only when we need to be."

"We're what you might call _freelancers_," Darque said. "Which means that, unlike you, we don't have a boss to report to if we screw up and... _accidentally_... kill someo—"

"Oh, lay off the kid." A final figure appeared on the rooftop, a very clear-cut male figure with an equally definite male voice.

_Johnny Thirteen_.

Johnny dropped to the ground, a path instantly clearing from him to Darque.

"I was told you would be waiting."

"We were waiting. Then we discovered this kid listening in—"

Johnny shook his head dejectedly. "So, refresh my memory, how many Alliance numbers does it take to shut up _one_ kid?"

No one answered, clearly Johnny was a bigger threat than any of them were.

"Anyone?" With a bleak, joyless laugh, Johnny turned his back on Darque and gazed down at Chaud, being a good six inches taller than him, like the rest of his gang. And, like the rest of the gang, he was wearing the same odd Navi-like mask. "And who are you? You look familiar."

"Chaud Bla—"

"Ah! I knew I knew you from somewhere! You were in that tournament Blackie crashed," Johnny sighed. "Dweeb... he thinks he needs to make it so public..."

"Why is the Black Assassin looking for you?" Chaud asked carefully. Judging by the other twelve numbers' reactions, Johnny was not someone to cross.

"Why? I don't know. Probably to deliver some crack message from Dr. Regal for me," Johnny dismissed civilly.

"And... why aren't you killing me?"

This statement earned him a brief, scrutinizing stare from Johnny before another bleak laugh.

"You think I'm that morbid? Kid, I won't deny that I'm a murderer. But, unlike Blackie, I don't kill kids that haven't done jack."

Rage looked unsettled, almost envious of Johnny's composure. "Johnny, we've gotta get going. He'll only wait for you for so long."

"I know. And I'm already late," Johnny said. "Yet, I notice he hasn't killed anyone, like he said he would. Dweeb," he repeated. "However, I think it only fitting that he meet me here. We have for so long, why change anything now?"

"Who are you people?" Chaud asked, trying to extract all the information he could before Johnny decided to turn hostile. "What's this Alliance?"

"_Alliance Treize_," Johnny answered simply. "Alliance of Thirteen."

"What do you do?"

"What do _I_, specifically, do? Or what does the Alliance do? Gotta be specific, kid."

"Both."

Darque looked disapprovingly down at Chaud, and shook his head at Johnny.

"Not like it'll do them much good," Johnny said openly. Turning back to Chaud, he said, "Basically, what the Alliance does... we just steal stuff. We all have a separate part to play... Okay, so _occasionally_ we'll end up killing a guard, or two," Johnny added, seeing the look on Chaud's face.

"Or thirteen," Carter said.

"Knock it off." Johnny had turned on him, and Carter shut up at once. "Like my buddy Darque said earlier. We're freelancers. We do what we want. Sometimes, Blackie's boss Dr. Regal gives us an offer, and sometimes we take it."

"Who's Dr. Regal?"

"_You_ haven't heard of him?" Patch asked, cutting in. "You know Dr. Wily, do you not?"

"Of course I do. He's in prison—"

"Finally," Connor sighed.

"Regal is his son, and is, if possible, even more mad and scientist-y."

"Nicely put, Patch," Johnny agreed. "He's the one responsible for what you were hit with earlier."

"How long were you watching us?" Rage asked guiltily.

"Long enough to watch you attack a poor, innocent kid."

"Why are you being so civil?" Chaud asked. "If you're so heartless—"

"Who ever said I was heartless?" Johnny asked. "You're making assumptions, kid, and they're starting to get on my nerves."

"Honest question," Chaud pointed out. "Not too long ago, your men were threatening to kill me."

"They're not my men. We're all a big bunch of friends. And I bet you don't know half their names, do you?" Johnny quizzed.

"Um..."

Almost automatically, the other twelve got into line behind Johnny in what he could only assume was number order, facing Chaud.

"Darque is One, Caden Two, Ace Three, Deton Four, Axiom Five, Carter Six, Rage Seven, Archer Eight, Cardinal Nine, Dash Ten, Connor Eleven, Patch Twelve... and me. Johnny Thirteen."

"Now that introductions are over..."

Shuriken stars landed on the ground, outlining Chaud's PET. The Black Assassin stood over them, as heavily masked as ever.

"Welcome back, Johnny."

13


	40. Reunion

8

Chapter Forty:

Reunion

The entire gang save Johnny Thirteen vanished back up onto the rooftop. The Assassin and Johnny looked at each other as long-time rivals more than anything, slowly approaching each other, traversing the empty square.

"Blackie. Long time, no fight," Johnny spat. "What do you want now?"

"Regal wants you."

"He's asking us over you?" he asked, jeering. "What a shame. Forget it. He can do his own father's work by himself, thank you very much."

"It's not JUST you," the Assassin snapped hotly. "We're working together."

"OH! In that case, you can TOTALLY count me outta this one," Johnny sighed. "You plus me and my gang equals disaster."

"I noticed."

"So... what then?"

"I'm just the delivery boy. You tell me," the Assassin shot back. "Either we work together or I kill you all."

"When you put it like that... lemme think about it," Johnny said seriously. "Oh yeah... YOU'RE not the only one capable of killing!"

As if spurred by lightning, the rest of the gang swept down onto the ground, easily surrounding the Assassin. Fire, lightning, and water shot from every direction, only to be semi-successfully deflected.

"This is what I never understood about you, Johnny," he spat, leaping out of the circle of attackers. "You're only brave enough to attack when it's thirteen on one!"

"Yeah, but see, THAT'S why I always win," Johnny said lazily, not moving. "_I_ work in a team, whereas _you_ work in a hole. With Regal," he added, shuddering in disgust. "You, my enemy, have more issues than the newspaper."

"At least my issues are more memorable than yours!"

Slowly backing away from the fight, Chaud tried to spot a reasonable way to get to his PET while avoiding the flames that he knew were real. _How are they doing that? It's not scientifically possible, is it?_

"DON'T think I've forgotten about YOU, Blaze," the Assassin barked, turning on him in an instant. "Johnny's gang isn't the only one I'm out for!"

"I thought you were after Nami!" Chaud retorted, taking cover behind an overturned table. He heard the _thunk_ of metal on wood as a good few shuriken hit the table.

"Come on, your aim MUST be better than that," Johnny hooted at the Assassin. "Seventeen years, you been in this business? With aim like _that_? No way."

"KNOCK IT OFF!" More sounds of flying projectiles. Chancing a glance around the table, Chaud saw that the Assassin had finally dragged Johnny into the fray. The other fighters almost immediately ceased fire for fear of hitting their leader, leaving the two skilled combatants to slit each other's throats.

"Psst! Hey, kid!" Looking around, Chaud saw that Darque, Caden, and Rage were fervently motioning towards him. "C'mere!"

"What?" he hissed, not moving an inch.

"You want your Navi back or not?" Caden snapped.

"Better make a run for it now before His Royal Blackness gets an eye on you," Rage advised.

"How many names do you have for him? And why should I trust you? You were about to kill me!"

"You're an Official, am I right?" Darque asked patiently.

"Yes..."

"That means that you're against the Assassin."

"Yeah... so what?"

Darque and the others stared at him for a moment. "Don't think for a moment that _we_ trust _you_," Darque said.

"Wha...?"

"As long as he's around, you're safe from us," Rage said. "But, once he's GONE..."

"Shut up, Rage," Darque sighed. "Do you want your PET or not?" he asked slowly.

"Yes," Chaud said. "Of course I do!"

"Good."

"Why is that good?"

"Because Patch's almost got it." Looking around, Chaud saw this to be true. Patch was inching his way across the square, given cover by Johnny and the Assassin fighting.

"Why are you helping me?" Chaud asked.

"The enemy of my enemy is my friend," Darque said simply. "Although the old adage never states how long friendship like this lasts."

Patch got his hands on the PET, and quickly slipped out of harm's way back to the broken glass of the shop window.

"Man, if I EVER have to do that again, I will decimate you all," he gasped.

"You won't, next time I'll do it," Rage said. "Swear."

"So... that's it?" Chaud asked, suspiciously taking his PET from Patch's outstretched hand. "No tricks?"

"Unless you WANT us to trick you," Caden offered. "That can be arranged."

"Th-Thanks..."

_BAM!_

The table they had been hiding behind went up in flames.

"RUN!" Caden, Rage, and Patch all scattered like frightened ants, leaving Chaud to deal with Johnny and the Assassin.

"Get the kid away!" Johnny shouted.

"But—" Axiom protested.

"_Now!_"

Obviously overruled, Darque, having remained behind, seized hold of a burning table leg, expertly throwing it at the Assassin's ankles. Targeted exactly right, the Assassin tumbled down into the snow.

Johnny dashed over towards them, grabbing Chaud's arm.

"OW! Hey!"

"Lay off it, kid! We're getting you outta here," Johnny hissed. Close on dragging him along the ground, the figures of Johnny and Chaud disappeared past the security camera's field of view.

---

One Week Later

"What happened after that?" Maether asked.

"We... don't know, sir," Lan responded, turning off the security camera footage.

"Well, where's Blaze?! He was the one who was there!" Maether roared.

This statement made all the people in the room, including Lan, jump a foot in the air as the door opened. Chaud walked in, completely unfazed.

"And where have YOU been!?" his captain demanded.

"School," he said simply. "What, was I expected to just cut out in the middle of a math test?"

"Yes," Maether said icily. "Hikari did. This is important."

"And so is school, as you and the rest of the world are constantly reminding me," Chaud said, taking off his backpack and sitting down. "What's going on?"

"Johnny Thirteen is a threat," Maether said, addressing the rest of the room now. "We know this. And as the local Official chapter, we need to cooperate with the police to track him down."

"I suppose. So where do we start?"

"Waaait," Chaud interrupted. "We're going after Johnny Thirteen—"

"Yes."

"—but not the rest of his gang? After all, they _all_ threatened to kill me."

"This... is true," Lan agreed.

"All right then, so now we have a crew of thirteen to look out for, find, and capture," Maether said. "Adding the Black Assassin makes it fourteen. So. Where do we start?"

"Such a large gang can't possibly be coming together from anywhere outside the country," Chaud said. "They must be here somewhere."

"Then we'll do a search on all the local citizens," Lan suggested. "If we find a DarkChip on any of them—"

"But they were all men," Chaud pointed out, still choosing to ignore the fact that he still had Nami's DarkChip with him. "What's the point of searching the women?"

"Why do you ask?" Lan asked suspiciously.

"He does have a point," a nearby recruit said. "All the cross-checking we've done shows that all the voices are 100 male."

"And, to be honest, what girl would be caught dead with a DarkChip?" Lan added.

"Searching everyone at least once wouldn't be a bad idea, anyway," Maether pointed out. "The question is how."

"But why do we need to search the women if we know that all fourteen murderers are men?" Chaud persisted.

"We could search everyone going in and out of the city," Lan proposed, ignoring Chaud's statement. "So we know what people are bringing in and out."

"That's a decent idea, Hikari," Maether agreed. "Any other thoughts?"

"That we only search the men!" Chaud snapped, offended and slightly miffed that no one was listening to him.

"We could ban all metal from the schools," a recruit offered, still not paying attention to Chaud. "Less chance of weaponry being brought in."

"So we should resort to medieval techniques that don't even work like metal detectors?" Maether asked rhetorically.

"If it worked for a while then, maybe it'll work for a while now. At least, until we can think of something better."

"That's a thought. All right, no more metal in the schools. Including PETS. Anything else?"

"I say we spend some more time reviewing the tapes," Lan said. "See if there's anything incriminating we can catch."

"There's too many angles to cover for one person, Hikari," Maether pointed out. "Even though it's just a twenty-minute affair, all the camera angles we've got will take hours to review."

"Then Chaud can help me!"

"What!?" Having completely given up on trying to press his point, Chaud had been zoning out, wondering how fourteen people had managed to create such chaos in one night.

"Done. Hikari, Blaze, you two stay here and review all the tapes," Maether said as the rest of the recruits filed out of the room to impose the new security measures.

"But I—"

"C'mon, let's get to work," Lan said cheerfully.

"LAN! What is your PROBLEM!?" Chaud demanded.

"Hey, I can't do all the work," Lan protested, turning on a few of the monitors. "Why are you so against searching all the women? Violation or something?"

"I..."

"Really, what girl would even have a DarkChip on her?" Lan continued. "Or anything else that would give them away? Honestly. We're only going to search the women so we can make sure that none of them are helping Johnny and his gang."

"I understand," Chaud said, "but I STILL don't think it's a good idea!"

"You're insane," Lan said seriously. "Maybe Johnny has a charismatic effect on you."

"Maybe I'm unfit to work," Chaud declared.

"You're not THAT insane. And I still need help!"

Lan covered half of the angles, and found nothing for a while. Chaud was busy inspecting a particularly difficult angle when Lan suddenly shouted aloud, "RAIZE!"

"Aah! What are you talking about?!" Chaud snapped, recovering from what felt like sudden momentary deafness.

"I saw him there! It was just a second, but he was there!" Lan said. "I swear!"

"Lemme see..." Lan replayed the section of tape. It was Rage shooting flames out of his hands. _Wow. It looks even more painful on the screen,_ he thought, wincing.

"Right there!" Pausing the tape, Lan pointed frantically at the screen. "See!?"

"Dear God... you're right..." Right there, on the screen almost as if he were a ghost, was Raize Hallissy in the place of Number Seven, Rage. No hint of remorse on his face, just a look of hatred.

"What can that mean?"

Reviewing the rest of the shots of all the other gang members, nothing of the sort happened.

"Why is Raize there?"

"How do we even know it's him?" Chaud asked, not wanting to be the one to have to tell Nami that her brother was being arrested.

"We don't. But what we DO know is that he's there, and he's involved with murderers."

"But..."

"We have to arrest him."

---

That same night, the whole Hallissy family milled around the living room, reading or working on homework or work-work.

"Sean?" Nami asked.

"Huh?" he asked, absorbed in his book.

"Feel like helping me balance equations?"

"No."

"But I need help!" Nami begged. "Please, Sean! You're good at this!"

"Sean, help your sister," Mamoru sighed, also working.

"She's YOUR sister too," Sean said.

"I know. But _I_ am _working_, and _you_ are _not_."

With a resigned sigh, Sean turned to his sister, and quickly discovered that he had long since forgotten the chemistry he'd learned as a freshman.

"Um... if you have... what?"

"How did we end up with sixty oxygen and only nine carbon?" Nami wondered.

"I... don't... know."

A violent banging at the door sounded. "Den Tech police! Open up!"

"What?" In an instant, everyone ceased everything they were working on and leapt to their feet.

"What's going on?" Ailee asked, her beadwork spilling everywhere. "What have we done?"

"I'm not sure," Mamoru said, worried.

"Open the door!" the voice from outside shouted again.

"You'd better, before they break it down," Sen advised.

As Raize went to open the door, it came crashing down.

"Seize him!"

"WHAT?!"

A horde of Officials and police officers swarmed into the room, grabbing Raize's arms.

"What are you DOING!?" he demanded, resisting.

"Raize, don't fight them!" Mamoru shot at him, attempting to find the leader of the group and talk some sense into him.

"What's going on!?" Nami shouted as she was being herded outside with the rest of the family.

"Nami!" Chaud came running up to her, a look of shock on his face. "Nami, I'm so sorry!"

"What's going on?!" Mamoru barked, thrown out of his own house. "Chaud! What's all this about?"

"HEY! Get your hands off me!" Ailee was also tossed out of the house, Sean close behind. "What's going on here?!"

"Raize Hallissy, you're under arrest," the Official who had grabbed him stated clearly. It was Maether, no less.

"Under... arrest?" Raize croaked, confused. "What for?"

"Caught in the act of assaulting an Official," Maether told him, frog-marching him out of the house.

"Assault? An Official?!" Mamoru asked.

"He only resisted arrest for about ten seconds, he's never assaulted you!" Ailee said, slipping into legal terms no one could understand.

"Not me. Official Chaud Blaze."

Immediately, Ailee rounded on him.

"What do you mean!? Raize has never assaulted Chaud!" Ailee snapped.

"It's a long story," Chaud said wearily. "Nami—"

"What's going on?" she repeated, moving away from him. "Tell me what's happening here!"

"Calm down... A few hours ago, Lan and I were reviewing the security tapes from Electown Square about the Johnny Thirteen and Black Assassin attacks," Chaud explained. "Raize appeared in the place of one of the members for half a second like a ghost, and now we're here arresting him."

"For assault on a half-second basis?" Ailee asked. "That's ridiculous!"

"I can't believe this," Sean sighed. "Raize..."

Mamoru, having remained silently listening to Chaud and Ailee talk, finally spoke up. "How long will he be in prison?"

"Prison!?" Ailee panicked.

"I don't know," Chaud said. "All I've ever dealt with are the criminals that get life. I don't know how long Raize will be there."

"Do we have visitation rights?" Mamoru asked.

"Yes. Even the life sentence prisoners have visitation, although no one really goes."

"Can you tell me when I can come and see him?"

"As soon as I know, you will."

"Good..."

"DarkChip!" One of the Officials had been searching Raize, and had found a DarkChip in his PET.

"Confiscate the PET and the chip," Maether snapped.

"WHAT!?" With a look of pure horror on his face, Raize watched, aghast, as a DarkChip was extracted from his PET.

One of the same kind that Chaud had taken from Nami.

"Raize... had a DarkChip?" Mamoru asked rhetorically, shocked.

"No way..."

---

"He's not involved with Johnny Thirteen!" Ailee snapped, arguing with Maether at eleven o'clock at night.

"Video evidence says otherwise, Ms. Hallissy," Maether sighed. "I'm sick and tired of arguing with you. Go visit your brother or go home."

"I will NOT visit him! Not until he comes out of here cleared of all these ludicrous charges!"

While they were arguing, a shadow slipped into Raize's cell.

"Who's there?" A guard, having seen the shadow, ran up to the cell. "No one is allowed in there but the prisoner!"

The only sounds coming from the cell was Raize breathing deeply; he had been asleep for hours.

"Hmm..." The guard walked away, slightly confused and making a resolution never to drink coffee before work again.

"Psst... _hey!_ Rage! Y'in here?" a voice asked.

Raize looked up, obviously not asleep.

"Eh?"

"Rage! I knew you were in here somewhere..." Darque rose up from the shadow, keeping out of sight behind the cell door. "Nice job, getting caught with a DarkChip. Idiot."

"Sorry," Raize said. "Gonna help me out or not?"

"I'm debating. Help the idiot so he gets caught again? Then you'll get a double sentence, and undoubtedly I'll get caught too," Darque said.

"C'mon, please?" Raize begged. "Lucky number Seven, that's me."

8


	41. Fair Trial

6

Chapter Forty-One

Fair Trial

"I love how you're so lucky, you manage to bust yourself and could have gotten the rest of us in here with you," Darque said.

"At least I didn't end up busting the rest of you," Raize snapped.

"This is true. However. You still got busted."

"I know... But still. Any plans to get me outta here?"

"None whatsoever," Darque informed him.

"WHAT? Johnny just wants me to just... stay here!?"

"Relax. Your trial will go fine—"

"I'm going to TRIAL?"

"Oh, yeah. Of course you are," Darque said. "Come on, Rage. You told the kid you'd kill him! What other outcome did you expect, moron?!"

"I don't know..."

"Exactly. Just don't say anything that would give the rest of us away. Plead the fifth or something."

"Why would I do that? They know it's me," Raize sighed. "What can I d—"

"You can shut up and let me talk," Darque snapped. "Why you would say nothing about us is because of what I've got Patch doing."

"He's fixing the tapes?" Raize asked. "So they won't see anything!"

"Oh, no. They'll all still see it. But this time, it won't be _you_ there."

"Who will it be? Rage?"

"No. Don't be ridiculous, the Officials need SOMEONE to book. The world needs to think they've got the right track," Darque told him. "And if we put Rage there, they'll still give you the sentence."

"So... who are you going to put in there?"

"..." Darque leaned forward, whispering in Raize's ear.

"I CANNOT believe you guys," Raize laughed. "They'll never believe you!"

"Yes, they will. He was one of the two who discovered the evidence. They could think he'd tampered with it to frame you and save himself."

"But they'll believe him over a tape any day!"

"Not even _he_ is exempt from the law, Seven."

"That's _incredible_ thinking..."

"I know. Thank Johnny. Deviousness these days is at an all time high," Darque said proudly. "You're lucky to be working with us."

"I know I am. Tell the rest I say thanks," Raize said, lying back down.

"Will do. And the trial's in two weeks."

"TWO WEEKS!?" Raize sat up immediately. "I have to wait in here for THAT long?"

"Yup."

"I thought the laws here promised speedy trial!"

"It could have been six months," Darque reminded him. "Just keep your moth shut, ask to see the video if they force you to say something, and just let the defense system work its magic."

"I will... is everyone going to show up?"

"What, all of us? With all the cops sniffing around? Forget it. But we'll be waiting to welcome you back once you're cleared. Johnny might give you a bit of grief, but that's just Johnny for ya."

"So what am I supposed to do until the trial?"

"Sit and wait like the good human boy you were until Regal came along."

---

_Tick. Tock. Tick. Tock._ The clock in the kitchen seemed louder than normal in the Hallissy household. Ailee had abandoned her sewing, and all attempts to do homework had stopped.

Everyone jumped as knocking on the door coincided with the clock chiming midnight.

"Den Tech police."

"I got it," Sean sighed, getting up and breaking the silence. The door crept open, and the chief of police stepped into the room.

"I'm sorry to hear about everything that's been happening lately," the chief of police said, completely unsympathetic. "If there's anything we can do...?"

"Please leave," Mamoru said mechanically. "We don't need your help."

"But, sir, we _are_ the police," the chief told them matter-of-factly.

"I've heard rumours. Please leave."

Looking scandalized, the chief left them in peace.

"Mo?" Nami asked quietly.

"Hm?"

"What are we supposed to do now?" she asked.

The whole family turned to watch Mamoru; he didn't respond immediately.

"Mo?" she repeated.

"We get him out of there."

---

Two Weeks Later

"Nervous?" Chaud asked, walking with Nami towards the courthouse.

"Of course I am..."

"All I'm worried about is what kind of a case Ailee put together," Sean said, tying his fingers in a knot in an attempt to fix his tie. "I mean... what can possibly get him out now? Unless it's not him in the film..."

"I watched it, it's definitely him," Chaud confirmed.

"It was only for a split second, you said," Nami remembered.

"You might have been mistaken," Sean said hopefully. "Anything to get Raize out... he's annoying and mean sometimes, but... I mean..."

"I know... but the evidence is pretty solid, and it was kept under high security during the wait."

"So it hasn't been tampered with at all?" Nami confirmed.

"Not a bit..."

Sean saw Ailee and Mamoru across the room. "Hey guys! Sorry we're a bit late!"

Ailee and Mamoru looked up and came towards them.

"Where have you been?" Ailee asked tersely.

"_Sean_ couldn't find a tie," Nami sighed.

"I told you, you don't need to wear one," Mamoru groaned. "Oh well... at least the justice system is running a bit late, as well..."

"They ARE?" Nami looked around. Indeed, the entire town seemed to be here... but not the judge, the guards, bailiff, or...

"Where's Raize?" Ailee asked quickly. "I can't defend someone who's not even _here_."

"Good question. I don't know," Mamoru said. "I've been looking."

"So where is he?" Nami asked.

"We. Don't. Know."

The judge, a small, elderly man, ascended the steps to the courthouse.

"Bring in the defendant," he called out in an exceptional voice for one so old.

"Umm... that's Raize, right?" Nami asked Ailee.

"Yes. We're the defendant, and the Officials are the plaintiff..."

"Which means you probably shouldn't be here with us," Mamoru whispered to Chaud, directing him to the other side of the courthouse. Lan sat there, frantically beckoning him over.

"Okay... good luck, Ailee," he whispered back, slipping into the seat next to Lan.

"What were you doing over there?" Lan asked as Raize was marched in towards his family. Maether and Chaud's father arrived with him.

_This is either going to be really interesting, or a total disaster... or both._

"I arrived with them," Chaud said. "What do you expect?"

"Okay, I know she's your girl and all, but... her family is sorta... in court," Lan told him.

"Really? I had _no_ idea that's why we were coming to the courthouse."

Lan rolled his eyes. "At least everyone's here now."

"Yeah..."

The trial continued in a completely normal fashion, until Ailee's turn to question witnesses. She immediately asked to question her brother.

"Ai, what are you doing?" Nami asked. "You're supposed to defend him!"

"I am," Ailee said, getting up to face Raize on the stand.

"I hope she knows what she's doing," Mamoru breathed.

"I know she does," Sean whispered. "She's a professional... of sorts..."

"Mr. Hallissy..."

_Okay, THAT is SO awkward..._

"... what happened on the night of December 31st?"

"I was out at Electown Square with you, Mamoru, Sean, Nami, Raoul, Mireille, and Chaud," Raize said clearly. "I was with Mamoru, Raoul, and you at the time I was thrown out of a small café by five football players. Nami, Sean, Chaud, and Mireille joined us at that time."

"Anything else?"

"Um... Once the clock chimed midnight, Mamoru went to get Nami, and we went home."

"Everyone?"

_Ailee, you know perfectly well I didn't go with... she just wants the court to hear it from him, I suppose_...

"Chaud stayed behind because he got a message that he had to do Official rounds."

"Thank you. No further questions for you."

"Any other witnesses?" the judge asked.

"The defense calls Chaud Blaze to the stand."

Chaud felt a cold sensation wave over him as he stood up and walked towards Ailee.

"Just tell the truth, don't be nervous," he heard her say softly, as though far away.

_How can I not be nervous?_

"Mr. Blaze..." _...is my father._ "...where did you go once you received word that you were to complete rounds of Electown Square?"

"I went around to all the shops in the Square, and made sure that they were all locked up," he said.

"Did you see anything suspicious?"

"Not at first—"

"Yes or no?" Ailee snapped fiercely. _Whoa. I had no idea she could be like that..._

"No."

"When did you first see signs of Johnny Thirteen's team?"

"His gang was leaping across the rooftops, and Rage came down to do me in," Chaud said blatantly.

"Did Rage attack you?" Ailee asked, if nothing else for effect.

"Yes."

"Has Raize Hallissy ever shown a violent tendency to you?"

"No, never."

"When Rage was attacking you, did Raize ever appear in his place when you were watching him in person?"

"No."

"How did you come to associate Raize with Rage in the first place?"

"Lan and I were reviewing the security tapes after the gang and the Black Assassin appeared in the Square. Lan saw it first, then he showed me."

"Thank you, no further questions."

Chaud got up and went back to his seat, listening intently for who Ailee would pick on next.

"... Namirra Hallissy."

"Objection!" Maether burst out, standing it.

"On what grounds?" Ailee demanded.

"She's just a kid!"

"She's my age!" Chaud snapped, standing up, feeling his father's eyes drilling holes into him. "She has just as much say in this trial as I do!"

"Please, your Honor—"

"Overruled. Please continue, Ms. Hallissy."

"Ms. Hallissy, has Raize ever shown a violent tendency to you?"

"Of course not."

"Has he ever shown any signs in his home life that he might have something going on that he wasn't telling anyone?"

"No."

"Do you have anything to say in his defense?" Ailee asked finally.

"He's not involved with Johnny Thirteen," Nami said confidently. "I know he isn't. He's a good person."

"Thank you. No further questions."

"May we view the evidence now?" someone asked.

"Yes. Bring the evidence forth."

The tape was played, and soon, Chaud knew, the part where Raize appeared drew closer.

"Slow down the tape," Maether directed.

The tape slowed down...

...and nothing happened.

"Where is the evidence?" the judge asked.

"Wait! Something's changing!"

It was. Rage was changing, but it wasn't Raize he was becoming.

It was Lan.

"Lan Hikari!" Maether rounded on him in a split second. _"Tell me that isn't you!"_

Lan was speechlessly staring at his own image on the frozen screen. "That... that can't be me! I _know_ it wasn't me!"

"Lan? Lan Hikari?"

"It can't be him!"

"It just can't be!"

"I know what I saw, Maether, sir," Lan said shakily. "And it wasn't me!"

"He's lying," someone said. "He has to be. That evidence is solid."

"Court will recess until noon tomorrow," the judge boomed over the commotion, dismissing them.

6


	42. Double Time

7

Chapter Forty-Two:

Double Time

"PATCH!" Johnny snapped. "WHO is this that I see on THAT screen?"

"Lan Hikari," Patch said.

"Care to tell me WHY I see Lan Hikari?"

"We needed to get Rage out of there somehow," Patch said. "Darque said this would be—"

"Don't go blaming this on me, ya twit," Darque snapped from the roof.

A few members of the gang were outside the Jomon Electric store. Caden was twirling a lamp cord from the twenty-foot overhang above the store, one foot hanging dangerously off the edge. Darque was ten feet below on the roof, tossing an apple between his hands. Ace and Carter were on the roof as well. Carter was tossing pennies as far as his arm would allow, and Ace was matching his tosses with exploding cards.

"Knock it off with the explosions, Ace," Caden snapped. "Or we'll get busted. _Again_. And, may I remind you, that is a Bad Thing."

Patch and Johnny were inside the store, watching the footage Patch had stolen from the judicial vaults.

"Remind me again why I got you these tapes if you were only going to criticize?"

"Because. It makes me feel superior, and this time I have a point."

"For once," Caden shouted from above. "Johnny rarely has a point anymore."

"Because we haven't had anything big enough to have a point _about_ for a good long while."

"Yeah, yeah. You're just getting lazy, Thirteen," Darque sighed, tossing the apple farther than Carter's penny.

"Like you all should talk."

"Anyway, what's your point?" Patch asked.

"My what? Oh. Point. I have a point." Johnny paused the tape, and turned to face Patch. "Why are we trying to pin it on this kid?"

"Because he was the first one to find the evidence..."

"So? That makes him a prime suspect to begin with!" Johnny snapped.

"I— what do you mean?"

"I mean that if anyone's screwed with the evidence—and they find out—he's the first suspect because he's the first person to have seen the evidence."

"So..."

"This is bad, because since he's the first person to have seen it, he's the only logical one who could have tampered with it."

"Your point?"

Johnny sighed pointedly. "The kid's an Official. They'll never believe that he's in with us. THEREFORE...? Anyone?"

"You may do the honors of revealing your own brilliance, Johnny!" Caden shouted, annoyed. "Don't get a big head now, moron!"

"Fine! THEREFORE, since he hasn't tampered with it and they will never BELIEVE that he tampered with it, that can only mean that _someone else_ broke into the vault and tampered with it."

"Which is what I did," Patch said, realization dawning on his face. "Oh... sorry..."

"They'll be all over the trail soon," Johnny said. "Thanks, Patch."

"I'm sorry..."

"Quit apologizing! Everybody down here. NOW."

Caden abandoned the lamp cord and leapt down to the ground, Ace, Carter, and Darque following.

"What can we do... to fix this?" Johnny asked slowly and deliberately.

"We could fix the tape again," Carter suggested lazily.

"We can't do that, though. The whole town's already seen it. Other suggestions, anyone?"

"We could finally brainwash Maether," Ace said disgustedly. "He's a very predominant figure, that'll get them going on a 'trail' of sorts."

"But he's the one _leading_ the trail, and we know how to manipulate him. Took a few years, but well worth the time. We're not cutting him out of the picture _just_ yet. Anyone else? Third time's the charm, come on!"

"If you have a plan, why don't you shut up and tell us what it is?" Caden snapped.

"Because I want _you_ to be smart for once and not let me think for you," Johnny said impatiently. "I can't hold your hand on every spree we go on. We'd never get anything done. Ya gotta think for yourselves sometimes. Now figure it out!"

"We put all the evidence against Hikari being the culprit," Patch said.

"And we plant more evidence to make sure Rage isn't convicted," Darque added.

"Perfect!" Johnny shouted. "If we can get him a solid alibi... anyone willing to pose as a nurse?"

"A nurse?"

"His confession said that he was badly injured before Rage appeared, if we can get a 'nurse' to testify for him that he had a black eye and a pulled muscle or something, we should be able to get him in the clear," Darque said.

"I'll be the nurse," Carter offered. "It should be fun to create a story."

"It's gotta be believable, though," Johnny reminded him. "It's gotta get him outta here."

"Right. So I'll say I saw him and his family on the metro, and took care of him in an empty compartment," Carter suggested.

"Well, since no hospital checked him in or anything, we'll need a good excuse like that."

"Wait, what if the metro had no empty compartments? The metro driver's there, he'll have reviewed his security tapes too."

"Then we'll fix his tapes! Patch, get on 'em," Darque said.

"Wait. What will they show?" Patch asked.

"Put a nurse in the compartment the Hallissys were in, and... hm."

"Instead of having the nurse treat him there, why doesn't Carter say that once they all got off at the convenient same stop, Raize was treated at home because the kind and loving nurse followed him there to make sure he was okay?" Johnny suggested dramatically.

"So, technically, what I could do is replace one of the actual passengers with Carter's image?" Patch tried.

"No. Any passenger in their compartment will remember seeing them there, there's no _way_ they could forget a scene like Raize," Ace pointed out.

"Then they'll also remember NOT seeing a nurse there," Johnny countered.

"Shoot. Then what do we do?" Darque asked. "If you're only gonna shoot down the plans, give us one back so we get on it by the deadline."

"We nick the _station_ security tapes and add a nurse in there," Johnny said. "The stations are so crowded, no one will remember seeing or not seeing a nurse. If the nurse follows them out of the camera's field of view and—as far as they know—back home, he'll be clear."

"Since they're bent on getting Raize as their suspect, they'll find some way to get around it," Ace pointed out. "They'll probably say that the nurse was going home herself."

"HER? I have to be a _girl_ nurse?!" Carter demanded.

"It would definitely clear you of suspicion since you're a guy," Ace said matter-of-factly. "You ARE a—"

"SHADDUP!" Carter smacked the back of Ace's head.

"But it's a good thought to consider. How do we prove that the nurse wasn't going home?" Johnny asked, choosing to ignore the tussle.

"Raize's shirt," Caden suggested. "Plant a hair in the evidence files that matches our fabricated nurse's DNA in the evidence files. Say it was plucked off of his shirt, and it was unidentified until now."

"Sounds like my turf," Patch said. "I can definitely do it. Want me to?"

"Hold tight. Specify blonde hair, green eyes, 5 foot 3, and 163 pounds," Ace said.

"Seriously?"

"We gotta make her believable, go less recessive," Caden advised. "Use black eyes."

"Can do. Anything else while I'm still here?"

"We'll need a blonde hair by noontime tomorrow," Johnny said. "A real blonde hair, best you can do on short notice."

"I've still got some in the stores," Patch said, "I can—"

"I'll get it and save time," Ace offered. "Just tell me which it is."

"That still doesn't solve the fact that there will be no blonde haired black eyed nurse in the town census," Caden said. "No matter how real she sounds, it won't mean a thing if we can't prove she's real."

"Thankfully, this whole world is completely Internet based," Johnny pointed out. "As long as we can put a woman fitting her description in the census for the last twenty years, add her to the roster of medical school alumni, and forge a viable set of documents for her, we'll be okay."

Darque sighed as Patch went off to do his duty, handing Ace the information on the blonde hair from the stores. "Remember the days when you could be the bad guy and still live to see another day if you screwed up?"

Johnny shook his head. "We never screwed up. We still live. And even though security is getting harder and harder to crack through, and it's getting easier and easier to screw up, we haven't _quite_ screwed up yet."

"You have to admit. This is the closest it's come," Carter added. "No one's ever been jailed before."

"Because we've never been caught before!" Ace snapped. "Rage is just—"

"It's not from inexperience," Johnny snapped. "Remember, he may be younger than you, but he's older than me."

Ace shook his head, sighing. "Age and experience have nothing to do with each other."

"That may be true, but you remember. He used to be your leader."

"I used to be the leader," Ace reminded him. "Before Deton came."

"And once I came, Axiom was demoted," Carter said. "We've all been leader before the newest number came. Johnny's just been the best so far."

"And it's only because I'm new stuff," Johnny said modestly. "Chillax. It'll be fine."

"I'll go get Blondie's hair," Ace said brusquely, disappearing into the darkness.

"He's sort of right, you know," Carter told Johnny. "Age and experience don't correlate."

"Then why am I still in charge? Just because I'm the youngest doesn't mean I'm the least experienced," Johnny snapped. "Age means nothing."

"Yeah it does. You've just got better frame and program than the rest of us," Carter said. "Don't worry about Ace. He's just jealous that his time was shorter than anyone else's."

"Yeah, yeah. But still. I may be young, but I am _no_ pushover... as these Officials are about to find out."

---

The Next Morning

The court reviewed the evidence against Lan Hikari, who was now nervously sitting between his commanding officer and the bailiff.

"Lan Hikari, how do you plead?" the judge demanded.

"Not guilty!" Maether answered for him.

"Understood. The evidence says otherwise, and is very concrete, Mr. Maether."

"I understand that. But I refuse to believe that he would turn on us after years of saving the world multiple times."

_Years? It's only been about three..._

"He was the first to see the evidence, that makes him the only one who could have meddled with it," Maether said. "And I refuse to believe that Hikari would try to convict _himself_."

"This is true. However, it is still a possibility that Hikari _would_ try to convict himself in order to clear another suspect."

"Me? Convict myself... to free Raize?" Lan asked, putting the pieces together. "No way!"

"It's a possibility," Maether admitted, "but that might not be true."

"Does the defense have a word to say?"

"Actually, yes," Ailee said, getting up. "It has been brought to my attention earlier this morning that the defendant has _forgotten_ to _mention_ something."

Raize looked sheepishly down at his shoes as she said this.

"What, now? Bring him forward."

Raize took the stand, and pitched a piece about the nurse who had helped mend his bruises.

"Is the nurse here with us?" the judge asked. "Let Raize pick her out."

Raize looked around in the crowd for her. "There. In the back row, the blonde woman."

A blonde nurse came forward. Surprisingly, a few people seemed to recognize her.

"Please tell us what happened on the night of December 31," Ailee inquired.

"Well," she began, sitting cross-legged on the stand, "I remember seeing poor Raize on the metro, and I felt bad seeing him so beat up. So I helped him home and cleaned him up a bit!" She giggled, causing the entire room to cringe. Her voice was high and breathy, with an annoying, grating laugh.

"If that were true," Maether snapped, "we would have found something of yours on Raize's person. You're lying."

"That's true. All good nurses wear their hair up and use gloves when treating a patient," she said on the fly. "Of course you didn't find anything of mine, silly!" She laughed again, Maether finally stood up out of sheer annoyance.

Ace peered down from the rafters of the courthouse. "Phew... dodged that bullet, eh, Carter?" he whispered to himself. "Keep it up, blondie."

"What's your name?" he demanded.

"Who, me? Gertie McWilliams," she said. "I work for the beach hospital. I'm a new recruit!"

"I can tell," Maether said distrustfully. "Beside that. What was wrong with Raize?"

"Oh, man... we never really worked this one out," Ace remembered. "This could ruin us..."

Gertie thought for a moment. "He had a good couple bruises, and there was DEFINITELY something up with his left kneecap," she concluded. "That's why he was limpin' along!"

She giggled, Maether snapped at her, "I find nothing funny in that statement!"

Gertie trembled, shocked. "Well, ex-CUUUUSE me!"

"Doctor."

The prison doctor came forward.

"Does her statement match up with your findings?"

"Patch, for the love of all things illegal, I hope you're _amazing_ at your job," Ace sighed. "_Really_ amazing."

The doctor looked over his notes. "Yes. Everything she said was true."

"Shocking..." Maether turned back around, conferring with Chaud. "What do you think about this McWilliams girl?" he asked in an undertone.

"Annoying," Chaud said truthfully, "a bit too helpful, but by the looks of it, she means well. If she's lying about knowing what happened to Raize, she's either psychic or a wonderful guesser."

"True." Maether turned back to Gertie. "Are you certain that you were the one that helped him? Not someone else?"

"Haha, he wants someone less annoying... nice, Carter," Ace murmured, laughing.

"O' course it was me! How could I forget a _nutjob_ like him?" The crowd laughed. "Besides, there's gotta be SOME evidence that it was me that helped?"

"Maybe... was there anything unidentified in your searches?" Maether asked the crew that had scoured every last nook and cranny in the Square.

"Upon closer inspection of our unmarked evidence," one of the investigators said, "we have one unidentified blonde hair."

"Ten points for blondie," said Ace.

"Did I help you out, Raize?" Gertie asked as she walked by back to her seat.

"Let's hope so."

The trial continued as normal, Lan on the stand most of the time. The more the judge examined the case, the more non-incriminating evidence was found against both accused, including solid video evidence and numerous witnesses having spoken to both parties.

"This doesn't make sense," Chaud said. "Lan didn't do it... and Raize COULDN'T have done it... so who DID do it?"

"Judge Keefe?" the bailiff asked.

"Right!" The judge looked to the jury. "Your decision?"

"In the regards of the accusations against Lan Hikari," one of the jury members stated, "we the jury find Mr. Hikari... not guilty."

General applause and joyous shouts greeted this statement as Lan was nearly smothered by his overjoyed mother.

"And?"

"In the regards of the accusations against Raize Hallissy, we the jury find Mr. Hallissy..."

_Please, be good news..._

"Not guilty."

7


	43. Understanding

Chapter Forty-Three:

Understanding

"YES!" Raize leapt into the air, "No more jail cell!"

"Hopefully, you'll never have to endure that ever again," Mamoru said pointedly. _"Will you?"_

"Never, ever, ever again, O older, wiser brother of mine whom I love oh so very, very much," Raize said semi-sarcastically.

The judge left the building, as did most of the congregation, pleased that there had been no lasting harm done. Maether, however, was still dissatisfied.

"If Hallissy didn't do it, and Hikari didn't either... what are we supposed to do now!?"

"We're supposed to keep looking in the same place we left off in," Chaud suggested, merely glad that Raize hadn't been falsely accused.

"So much for that lead, Maether... sorry, sir..." Lan left with his parents, and Chaud exited the courthouse, leaving Maether alone.

---

"Chaud!" Nami ran up to him, elated. "I can't believe it!"

"Ailee, you ROCK!" Sean exclaimed, hugging his older sister. "This is incredible!"

"Not that we didn't think you were innocent the whole time," Chaud reminded them.

"Right! That too!"

"We're going out to dinner, Chaud," Mamoru told him, "would you like to tag along?"

"As long as you don't mind one extra."

"It's a celebration of me being out of jail," Raize said airily, "we don't mind! Especially if it's you!"

"Sounds great!..."

"Not tonight, Chaud."

Turning around, a shadow cast by his father loomed from across the parking lot. "We're going home."

_Fine... but why should I listen to everything you say...?_

"All right..." Turning around, he took Nami by the hand, and kissed her, if nothing else to annoy his father. "I'll see you Monday."

"Okay... bye..." Slightly shocked, Nami turned back to her family, and they walked away.

"Chaud, I want to talk to you."

"You're talking right now," Chaud snapped, sauntering down the path back home, deliberately avoiding eye contact. "What do you want to say?"

"I want to talk to you about this girl, Namirra."

Wow_, he remembered her name. Good for his memory skills._

"What about her?"

"Why you're still seeing her."

Mentally, Chaud froze, causing him to almost walk into a streetlamp. "What do you mean?"

"I want to know why you're still together," Mr. Blaze said evenly.

"Isn't it obvious?"

"What's obvious? That you're intent on defying my wishes until kingdom come?"

_Almost._ "No. That I love her."

"Does she love you?" Mr. Blaze stabbed back.

"Of course she does."

"How do you know? You can never know for sure. She might be lying to you, for all you know."

"Maybe she is, and maybe she isn't," Chaud said, unfazed. "But I guess that's just part of a relationship."

"What—?"

"You never really know if the other person feels the same way about you, but you love them enough to take the risk," said Chaud. "So maybe it's risky. But I trust her when she tells me she loves me. And I know she trusts me."

"...I see..."

_Of course you do._ "That's why we're together."

"What is?" Mr. Blaze asked.

Chaud looked his father in the eye for the first time all day. "The reason that I can only assume was the exact same reason why you were with Mother."

The silence on the way home was absolute, yet ill at ease. Chaud knew that he had to talk to his father sometime... but maybe not now. Not until he _really_ understood the relationship he had with Nami.

---

"Bravo to our main evidence hijacker, Patch! And our major cinematographer, Ace! And bravo to you all for pulling this off!" Johnny announced outside of Jomon Electric that night.

"Shame that the BA had to miss this," Ace sighed. "Poor outdated piece of—"

"COME ON, guys, we should celebrate Rage's recent rescue from the icy grips of prison," Johnny said, motioning to Raize, who was being celebrated somewhat as a man of honor.

"Where can we go?" Deton asked mildly. "There's nowhere we can go that we won't get caught or recognized, at least."

"We ain't going nowhere," Johnny said with a playful accent. He had been in an exceptionally good mood ever since Raize had been let off.

"Then what are we supposed to do?"

"We're gonna hijack some more stuff!"

A general moan crossed the gathering.

"Are you KIDDING me?!" Caden groaned.

"But this time it'll be fun. I swear!" he cried. "We're not taking stuff _out_ this time... we're putting stuff _in_."

"What are we putting in?" Axiom asked cheerfully.

"Information."

"What KIND of information, smartmouth?" Dash demanded.

"Tournament information."

"There's another tournament? SWEET!" Raize exclaimed. "This'll be SO MUCH fun!"

"Even better, it's a partner tournament again," Johnny said. "Another chance to sabotage Chaud and his date."

"What fun. Shall we input them into the tournament database?"

"Do it. But keep it outta their sight until the notices go out... this is a surprise for them."

---

" 'Castillo Opening Soon: The long awaited theme park opens this Sunday!' So, are we planning on going to this park?" Mamoru asked, reading the paper headline.

"I dunno. What do you think?" Ailee asked the rest, looking out over the breakfast table on Sunday morning.

"Maybe," Nami said, poking at her waffles. "Does it look like fun?"

"For who?"

"For anyone!"

"Well... they've got roller coasters that Raize might like, the theme shows for Sean... and they have a haunted house. One that you might like, Nami," Mamoru said.

Nami thought about this for a moment. "Sounds like fun..."

"You should take Chaud, _just in case_," Ailee joked, nudging Nami's elbow. "Maybe he likes that kind of stuff too."

"Or not, if it's the kind of stuff he deals with all the time," Mamoru added.

"True. But still. Why don't you ask him out there?" Sean asked, downing the rest of his milk.

"I bet you'd have fun there," Raize said, looking up from an armchair. He had done pretty much nothing but rest since he got home from prison. "It looks like a fun place, and I hear they've even got a tournament hall. Maybe you'll be working magic there too."

"Maybe... I doubt it though..."

"Why?" Mamoru asked.

"His dad might not let him enter another tournament... at least, not with me."

---

Meanwhile

Chaud and his father walked in the same door within one minute of each other, and ate dinner at the same time at the same table, and turned in for bed at the same time. All rare occurrences, yet neither spoke a single word to the other. Chaud refused to even glance in his father's general direction.

_Perhaps I've been wrong... he's _never_ been this adamant about anything before..._

He heard the door down the hall shut, and a moment later, a computer booting up.

_Perhaps he really DOES care. I HAVE been wrong._

_But,_ said the little voice in the back of Mr. Kenichi Blaze's head. _But, she's still dangerous. No matter what Chaud may feel for her._

_She may be dangerous, but he really cares enough to see past it... I shouldn't have been so inhospitable to her... and her family..._

Under any normal circumstances, Kenichi would have ignored the voice. It was that pessimistic voice that would lose him the company. His company. And hopefully, Chaud's company someday, if he didn't screw up like he was now...

_Just as long as he isn't inattentive in his studies, I suppose he'll be all right..._

_But what if he IS slacking off?_ the little voice said. _What if this relationship is beginning to monopolize his life?_

A sudden mental image of Chaud cutting class, hopping the fence around the high school, and running off into a vast expanse of nothingness with Nami crossed his mind.

_He wouldn't do that, would he?_

Out of the blue, Kenichi realized how little he actually knew about his son. His own son. Ever since his wife, Hana, had died, he had felt disconnected with Chaud.

_She always was better at relating to him than I was..._

Kenichi laid down on the half of the bed that he had occupied ever since exchanging wedding vows. It was almost as though he hoped for Hana to come back any day now, to save the space for her in his life.

_I don't know... I still have my doubts about those Hallissys... but Chaud really trusts them..._

_But Augustus doesn't. And when have you known Captain Augustus Maether to be wrong?_

_Perhaps now... I owe it to Chaud to make up for this._

_Make up for what? If Chaud wants something, he has to work for it. If there's anything you've taught the boy, it's that work comes before success_, the voice reminded him. _Don't YOU go forgetting that too, now._

The memory of seeing his son's eyes, so resolutely trying to force him, his father, to recognize the fact that he would never let go of. _I've never seen that fire burn so brightly in his eyes before... this is something he truly cherishes._

_She's up to no good, and you know she is. There's no way you can prove she's a good person._

_And there's no way to prove she's not. I think I've been wrong about her this whole time... but I can't let go of that lurking doubt._

_Then don't let go of it! You sense something wrong about her, and you're right, don't let your only son go out and consort with the likes of her!_

Kenichi shook his head briskly, trying to rid his head of these thoughts, these self-arguments that plagued his subconscious mind even in sleep.

_No matter who Chaud might bring home, I will never think there is anyone good enough for him... perhaps I need to just accept the fact that he'll make mistakes and choose to consort with those beneath him... but is that such a mistake?_

_Hana wasn't beneath you._

Remembering Chaud's subtle stab at the relationship he had had with Hana, Kenichi found himself drawing the blankets tighter around him, as though to seal himself away from the world, to block away all discomforting thoughts.

_That's different... it HAS to be different. Chaud is so different... from either of us. He's his own person..._ _I can't live his life for him, and I'm not going to try. I need to make this up to him... I need to be on good terms with him if we're ever going to make it through these teenage years of his... I knew this was coming. This rebellious stage... I just didn't want it to..._

Unable to contain himself, Kenichi got up and turning on his own computer. The soft whirring from down the hall in the silence of the night told him that Chaud was still up and working on something or other...

" ' Mr. Bekku... I would like to ask you a favor...' "

**((Author citation: I could not find an accurate English translation/representation of Mr. Blaze's actual name, **_**Shuuseki Ijuin**_**, so I picked a name for him. **_**And **_**his nameless late wife. **_**Kenichi**_** means "strong first son" in Japanese, and **_**Hana**_** means "flower" or "favorite" in Japanese, for those of you curious people. If anyone is willing to share the proper names and/or any information about Mrs. Blaze's death, by all means, feel free, and I will change them. In other news, I made up just about everything about the engimatic Mr. and Mrs. Chaud's Parents. ******

---

The Next Morning

"MORNING CHAUD!"

"WHA—?!" Chaud flopped out of the bed in alarm. "What is WRONG with you, ProtoMan?! It's Saturday morning!"

"And it's six AM," ProtoMan added. "And guess what?"

"Global warming?"

"Your dad wants you downstairs."

_Oh, snap. What did I do!?_

Not bothering to change out of pajamas, Chaud descended the stairs to see that his father had. It was a customary work suit-and-tie getup for Kenichi, once again.

"You wanted to see me?" Chaud asked, staring at the ground and scuffing his slippers into the kitchen tile. They were getting too small...

"Yes. I did... I wanted to give you something."

Chaud looked up. "Wh-What?"

"I wanted to give you something."

"Why?"

"Do I have to have a reason?"

Chaud blinked. What universal disruption happened overnight to force his father to bestow a gift upon him for absolutely no reason whatsoever?

"I... guess not..."

"These are for you and... Nami. If the both of you are free today..."

Kenichi held out two passes to the Castillo theme park.

"Huh?" Hesitant, Chaud slowly took the passes and read them over. Two passes to Castillo Theme Park, metro tickets for eight, access until nine PM, and a map. "But... the park doesn't open until tomorrow..."

"I called in a favor."

_What HAPPENED?_

"Why?"

"You're my son," Kenichi said simply, heading out the door.

_It may not be perfect... but it's a start,_ he thought to himself, hoping he wouldn't be late for his meeting in waiting for his son to get up.

Chaud remained in the kitchen, still standing by the now unoccupied chair, holding the passes and staring out the door.

_This... actually... happened... I have express permission from my dad to go out on an actual date completely alone with Nami for an entire day._

Closing the door after his father, Chaud smiled. _Maybe he's starting to come around._

Still holding on to the passes as though they were a lifeline to the outside world, Chaud went upstairs to call Nami and ask her to join him.

---

"Castillo? Where is that?" Sen asked. She was "chatting" with ProtoMan on Nami's homepage. ProtoMan had come bearing an invitation to Castillo.

"It's somewhere within the boundary lines of the country," ProtoMan assured her. "Don't worry, there will be no national security issues. There are two metro tickets attached to the passes... so I guess we just get there by train."

"Sounds reasonable..."

"So... it's gonna happen? I mean, you don't have any prior obligations or anything?" ProtoMan asked.

"Not that I'm aware of. And I'm aware of everything," Sen assured him. "So it'll happen. I promise."

"Good... We'll see you later, then!" ProtoMan left the homepage in fairly high spirits as Chaud walked into his room with a piece of toast meant to be breakfast.

"Hey, Chaud, I got you a date," ProtoMan said conversationally.

"Wha... huh?"

"You're taking Nami to Castillo today," he said.

"Excellent."

"And... you're meeting her at the station in an hour so you can catch the metro there."

"WHAT!?"

---

7:52 AM

Nami was sitting on the bench in the metro station, waiting for Chaud to arrive.

"This isn't like him... he's always on time for everything..."

"Relax. He'll get here," Sen said. "Think of all the fun you'll have once he does get here!"

"What's there to do at Castillo, Sen?" Nami asked distractedly.

"Hm? Oh, lots," Sen assured her, "there's the coasters and the shows... although I don't think they'll put on any shows for you."

"What about the haunted house?"

Sen smiled. "Knowing your tastes, I think you'll like it. It's a walk-through haunted house, and it's dark. Something about vampires... I think you'll have fun in there!"

Not bothering to ask what Sen meant by "fun," Nami saw Chaud at long last, tearing down the hall towards her as the metro called for final boarding.

"Sorry I'm late!" he called, "I'll explain on the way!"

Barely making the last boarding call, Nami and Chaud entered into the completely empty metro train.

"Is this train seriously... _completely_ empty?" Chaud wondered aloud.

"Since we're the only people going to Castillo... yeah. It is," Nami confirmed, looking out the compartment windows into the other compartments.

"Special us..." He sat down in a chair, breathless from running the whole way.

"You okay?" Nami asked, taking the seat next to him. "How long were you running for?"

"I ran from the security check all the way here," he said. "Sorry I'm so late..."

"It's all right, at least we made it," she pointed out optimistically. "What happened, anyway?"

"Security held me up. Thought I forgot the tickets for a second... I was outside the station looking around in my bag for a minute, so they thought I was 'shady' or something..."

Nami stared at him. "Shady? YOU? You're kidding, right?"

"No. Ever since the gang breakout, security's gotten tighter, even for us Officials. I've heard that some unit leaders have their squad members checking up on each other."

"This is getting insane... and nothing's even really gone wrong yet!"

"Enough about that," ProtoMan said, "today is a day off from all that, just for ourselves!"

"Just what we need," Nami said. "But let me get this straight... you actually GOT these passes FROM your dad? IN PERSON?"

"I know. It's entirely unlike him, but I'm not sure I want to complain just yet... maybe he's starting to accept us. I'm impressed."

"And we know what happens when _you're_ impressed with something," Nami said. "It's normally beyond amazing."

"Not always!" Chaud said indignantly. "Just with you!"

The train stopped. "One moment, please! Passengers, stay seated!"

"What's going on?"

The lights flicked on and off in the compartment they were in. "What do you think? Should we be worried?" Nami asked.

"Too early to say right now. But since any crazed maniac who wants to kill massive amounts of people would probably know by now that there are only two people on this train, plus driver... I don't think we're in much danger."

"Oh, good." She kissed him on the cheek. "Well, you have the map, what's something you think you'll enjoy?"

"Um..."

Truthfully, he hadn't thought about it much. He had barely even looked at the map, just glad to have the time with Nami.

Opening the map and naming the first thing he saw, he said, "The ice cream stand looks pretty spiffy..."

"_Seriously_, Chaud."

"I suppose... I'd really like to see this walk-in haunted house thing."

Nami smiled, "Me too."

"She loves haunted houses," Sen said to ProtoMan.

"Really? I never pegged her as the type to like being scared..."

"I like being scared... just as long as I know that I'm not going to get hurt," Nami said. "I'm the _ciné-magique_ type."

"Cinemagic. The seventh art," Sen said reminiscently. "In Netopia, it's hard to find someone who _isn't_ absolutely in love with special effects."

"Anyway. What else do you think we'll like?" Nami asked.

"Pretty much everything there... except maybe the arcade... I hate arcades."

"No reason to stop by there, then," Nami said positively. "I guess we could just spend the whole day in the haunted house and by the _spiffy ice cream_ you like so much!"

Chaud went red in the face, "Oh, shut up!" He pushed her lightly, she feigned falling over in pain.

"How dare you!" She fake-pushed him back, both of them laughing.

The train started moving again, "We apologize for the inconvenience, but now we're back and running!"

"Um... okay... what happened, anyway?"

---

"Leave it to Johnny to not show up for his own appointment," Patch moaned. "We'll chew him out later... but until then, I'm in charge."

"Duh. Now get on with it," Carter said. "We're missing Caden too, so..."

"I'll fill in!" Rage offered.

"It's too soon, sonny," Ace said consolingly, "not this time. Sit this one out, and I swear I'll find a way to slip you into the next one."

"You BETTER," Rage snapped. "So I'll stay here and hold down the fort?"

"Sure, fine, whatever. Since we're short by three, counting Caden, Rage, and Johnny, we're running five by five again. Sound familiar?"

"_Nobody_ better mess this one up," Carter said threateningly, looking around.

"What's the plan now, Patch?" Darque asked slowly, avoiding Carter's ominous gaze.

"We're going to ruin this date, one little step at a time. Since they don't have a plan for once, we're gonna have to be super careful that we don't screw up."

"Why don't we have someone shadow them?" Ace suggested.

"I'll do it," Darque offered. "I'll tail them around the park."

"Let's keep a tracker on them instead," Deton said, speaking up for the first time in months. "It'll be easier, and we'll know sort of where they're going with enough time to blow something up."

"Better idea," Darque agreed. "Patch—"

"Got'un right here," Patch said. "We'll need some way to get it on them."

"And this plan is providing that they stay together," Dash said.

This statement was met with utter silence.

"They'll do something _separately_?" Darque asked doubtfully.

"Never."

"The tracker won't work, there's not enough time to stage a search," Patch sighed, pocketing the tracker for later use. "No tracker. Nice idea though... we'll use it later for something different."

"So I'll track them around the park, and sabotage anything they're currently doing. But, above all, no one can see us," Darque said.

"There's no one else in the bloody park," Rage pointed out. "This is a private viewing privilege thingy!"

"But there's still people operating the rides and running the park in general, they wouldn't just let two kids run around the park unsupervised," Patch said. "Please. They're idiots, but not THAT big of idiots."

"They're big in the head and small in the brains," Cardinal said. "Not much we can do but take complete and total advantage of that fact."

"I concur. Let us proceed!"


	44. Castillo

Chapter Forty-Four:

Castillo

_I hope nothing goes wrong today... I just want today to be normal for once..._

"We have arrived! All passengers please disembark!"

"Think we're gonna have fun?" Chaud asked.

"I certainly hope so," Nami replied, stepping out into the piazza.

The air outside the park was pleasantly moist, thanks to a generously proportioned marble fountain, placed exactly in the center of the piazza.

"Pretty fountain... and we're among the first to see it," Nami noted. "This piazza..." The plaza was shaped like a hexagon, with flowers perfectly in bloom surrounding the edges. "It's so pretty..."

"It really is... I didn't expect this, to be honest..."

"It's still a very pretty place, regardless."

"I think we're more interested in what's _inside_ the park, rather than outside it."

"That _is_ true... so let's get the tickets and go!" Nami said excitedly. "This is so amazing!"

"Yeah... I'm still kind of in shock."

---

"See that poor, unsuspecting guard?"

"Yeah..."

"See that big, dangerous hanging gate swinging off a hinge two inches behind him?"

"Yeah..."

"Feel like smacking him with it?"

"Oh yeah!"

And with that, the only guard posted at the entrance of the park was compromised. Darque swept it, gave the gate one push in the right direction, and the gate went flying off the hinges, the guard along with it.

"Nice job," Patch said over an audio feed to Darque. "You might have overdone it, but as long as he ain't dead, we're in the clear. They can't have gotten too far by now. Just stick to what you do best, One."

"Got it." Creeping silently along the wall behind the shrubbery lining the park, he looked for Chaud and Nami.

"Find 'em?"

"Not yet. They must be in a building or on a coaster or something."

"Hold your position, then. I'll send Connor out for some reconnaissance."

"Wait a sec... ice...?"

"Come again? I didn't read you."

"Ice cream... they're eating ice cream... how am I supposed to sabotage that!?"

"You have the science major, you tell me!" Patch hissed. "What are they doing?"

"Eating..."

"Besides that!"

"Talking. There's really nothing I can do for this. C'mon, I'll just get a head start on unscrewing some coasters and rigging some explosives."

"No explosives, we don't want them to have to leave the park for fear of terrorism attacks," Patch said. "Just make everything you do look like faulty maintenance or a simple malfunction."

"Fine... I never get to have any fun blowing things up anymore..."

As he left the shrubbery, a dead leaf found its way under his feet.

"Hm?" Nami looked around at the shrubbery as the dead leaf made a loud crunching noise. Darque froze, trying to shrink as much as possible without attracting attention.

"What's wrong?" Chaud asked, frowning.

"Did you... hear something?" she asked.

"No... why?"

"I thought I heard footsteps..."

"Nami. We're the only ones in this park besides the maintenance crew. If you heard anyone, it's them," Chaud assured her. "Relax. Today is _our_ day."

Repressing laughter, Darque made his way out as quietly as possible.

"Which coaster are you gonna hit first?" Patch asked.

"Heck if I know. Whichever one I see first, and all the rest after that..."

"But then what? There are only about three or four coasters in the joint."

"All right, then, I'll do that, then I've got another idea. The haunted house is locked up for now, and I've got the coasters covered. I've got an idea that's sure to get them."

---

"Mr. Blaze? May I speak with you a moment?" A small, eternally frustrated looking man poked his head in the meeting room door.

"Yes. One moment, gentlemen."

Kenichi followed Mr. Bekku outside into the hall.

"What's so important that you had to stop this meeting?"

"Well, sir... you recall I helped you acquire advance tickets for your son into the Castillo park?"

"Yes, I do..."

"Sir, there's been a death at the park."

A wave of cold terror swept over him. Had his attempt to make amends gone so far down the wrong path?

"It... what hap—"

"Do not mistake me, your son is well," Mr. Bekku assured him.

"And the girl?"

"Both children are fine. Nevertheless, a guard was found dead outside. He drowned in the fountain after someone unhinged the hanging gate on top of him."

"This is absurd..."

"It's true. The police are already gathering evidence of the killing. I suggest you advise your son to leave the park as soon as possible."

"I will do that..."

"I will go in and postpone the meeting."

"Thank you, Mr. Bekku."

The path back to his office was a longer one that normal, and once there, Kenichi was somewhat nervous about calling his son and telling him what had happened. _For his own safety... and for the girl, too... Nami. I have to warn them before something goes wrong._

---

"This place is not looking as great as promised," Chaud had to admit after the fourth coaster breakdown.

"At least we're rightside up this time," Nami pointed out optimistically. "But you're right. I'm doubtful that the designers knew what they were doing."

"Chaud! Phone call," ProtoMan called. "It's your father."

_What?_

"Chaud?" Kenichi's image appeared on the PET screen. "Chaud, you and Nami need to get out of there, now."

"What... why?" Chaud asked. "I mean, everything's breaking down, but—"

"Was there a guard outside when you came in?"

"Yes..."

"He is now dead."

"Dead?" Nami asked, concerned. "Am I hearing right?"

"Yeah... how did he die?" Chaud asked.

"To my understanding, he was drowned by a gate in the fountain outside. Please, get yourselves out of there, before whoever killed him can get to either of you."

Mr. Blaze hung up.

"Well. Now I'm REALLY not liking this park," Nami sighed as the maintenance crew finally fixed the coaster and got them down.

"Yeah. Let's leave now before something bad can happen."

---

Darque swore softly, "I guess I did overdo it... the guard's dead."

"Well, what are we supposed to do now!?"

"We can either directly assault them now and risk getting a major high stakes repeat of Rage's oops moment," Patch said, "or we can let it go and take the heat from Johnny later."

"Either way, something tells me we're getting heat from Johnny," Connor said. "Let's take the option with less of a 'getting-caught' factor."

"Agreed. All units back to Jomon, maybe we'll be able to regroup with Johnny in time to figure out that tournament..."

And with that, the ten gang members fled across the twilight back to the city.

---

One Week Later

"They're starting to suspect Johnny Thirteen involvement in the guard's murder," Chaud told Nami at school.

"What on earth could they have possibly wanted inside a kid's theme park?"

"I'm not sure I really want to find out."

"Can the police do anything?" Nami asked.

"I don't think so. The only thing I'm worried about is how close they keep getting to us, and killing civilians obviously isn't an issue to them."

"I see... but hopefully, they won't be coming back anytime soon. Did you see?"

"We're in another tournament, yet again, without our consent," ProtoMan said knowingly. "WHY do they keep DOING this!?"

"Our public loves us," Nami suggested.

"Yeah, well... the public can go and fight itself for entertainment," Nami sighed. "This is getting really annoying... at least this time, it's not local. It's a national affair."

"Ooh. Better," Sen said, perking up. "Are you doubles again?"

"AND crossfusion." Chaud frowned. "It feels like a setup."

"Only because it is," Nami said. "We didn't get a choice in it. And the last one wasn't really much choice either."

"At least last time we had six months notice."

"If I'm right... the final match will be on Valentine's Day," Sen said, frowning at a calendar.

"On Valentine's... why do all the tournaments seem to end on holidays?"

"Give the people who either don't celebrate or have nowhere else to go something to do?" Chaud guessed.

"I suppose... oh well. I guess it doesn't matter, but are we in?" Nami asked.

"As long as we're in it together."

**((OH. EM. GOODNESS. It's an update. Sorry it's been so long, I've been busy opening up a fictionpress account with the same name! Check it out if anyone has extra time:-) ))**

**((ALSO: NUMBER MYSTERY SOLVED. For those who are curious, occasionally in earlier chapters, numbers would appear at the top and bottom of the chapter. Those were page numbers my computer put in for some reason and are not magical fairy-numbers to win the lottery with. Please stop emailing me asking about it.))**


	45. Hawk Tournament

Chapter Forty-Five:

Hawk Tournament

Tuesday, February 11

6 PM

"Why do we have to go to a meeting?" Chaud asked.

"It's a national thing, Chaud," Nami said, "we'll be meeting people from all over the country! You can't tell me you're not excited!"

"Nami? I've _been_ all over the country. And I'm here to tell you that it's not that different from right here."

"Don't ruin my fun," Nami scowled. "You never know. Maybe we'll run into someone you haven't seen in a while."

"Doesn't matter. I'm still a little nervous about coming back here."

The meeting and tournament were, as Raize had said, were in the Castillo park's tournament hall, supposedly made to hold the Hawk Tournament and promote business. The fiasco with Chaud and Nami's advance visit had been kept quiet, and no one was any the wiser. "Hopefully, the tournament hall isn't as bad as everything else was..."

"Hopefully they've FIXED everything so it's not bad at all," Sen pointed out. "Let's go. They're probably waiting on the Den Tech City team."

Chaud pulled open the door to the meeting room. Inside were seven other teams of two talking quietly amongst themselves.

"Recognize anyone?" Chaud asked.

"Two people I hoped I'd NEVER see again," Nami said distastefully.

A team in the far corner appeared to recognize her as well. A young boy about their age, with dark hair and a bright fire in his eyes, and someone else whose favorite color appeared to be pink and who was, at the moment, of uncertain gender. They got up and started tramping towards them.

"Hi, _honey_," Nami snapped at the boy.

"Hello, _beautiful_, what are you doing here?" Clearly, these labels on each other were not something even remotely friendly. "I wouldn't expect you to want to risk getting a scratch on that pretty face of yours."

"Back off, Atsuki," Nami retorted.

"And how is your dear family? Recently out of jail, I hear."

"At least he never got _convicted_ of anything, unlike YOU."

"A low blow from a low girl," Atsuki said. "I'd expect nothing less. I notice Mamoru and Ailee were both missing from work as well."

"Who're you to come in and start analyzing my family!?"

"A long lost friend?"

"If you must know, Mamoru is sick, and I—"

"Nami, what's going on?" Chaud asked, completely confused.

"Hello, my good man, I am a native of your beloved's Netopia," Atsuki said with mock consideration and an exuberant fake bow. "She and I attended grade school together, and we hit it off right away, as you can no doubt tell!"

"He's bugged me ever since I was in kindergarten," Nami said, looking tempestuously at Atsuki. "When we moved here, I thought that would be the end of it."

"Now we're here representing Mistlewood!" the other member of the team said with great pride.

"Oh, no... it's you..." Nami shook her head as though willing the Mistlewood team to vanish into the depths of oblivion.

"Yes, me!" The pink-haired celebrity wannabe laughed, throwing a scarf across his shoulders, proclaiming, "Viddy Narcy, at your service!"

"Viddy Narcy... weren't you in the N1?" Chaud asked, remembering the name from somewhere...

"Yes. I _was_," Viddy snapped, glaring at Nami. "Until I got beat."

"It's not my fault I'm a better fighter," Nami said defensively.

Viddy looked as though Nami might have slapped him across the face and shoved him into a spiked wall.

"Well, I NEVER! Such an improvident girl!"

With that, Viddy grabbed the collar of Atsuki's shirt and dragged him mercilessly back to the corner.

"See that?" Nami asked Chaud. "Grade A prime cut overacting ham."

"Great... this just got much weirder. How long have you known that Atsuki guy?"

"About nine years," Nami told him, taking a seat in the opposite corner. "I wish I'd never laid eyes on him."

"He's never left you alone?"

"He tried to kiss me in kindergarten. Something tells me it went wrong there."

Chaud frowned. "This could get a little out of hand..."

"All the better. I've always wanted to give him the smack in the head he deserves."

---

"Well, THAT was a colossal waste of time," Sen concluded three hours later when the meeting was called to an unofficial end. "Either someone forgot to show up and explain the tournament, or the entire tournament cast just showed up for no reason because of—"

"A setup," Chaud said. "This is feeling less and less like an innocent tournament."

"It should," ProtoMan said. "There's no advertising for it anywhere yet. And even the group who's supposed to be sponsoring it doesn't know anything about it."

"This _can't_ bode good news," Nami sighed. "Something tells me we just found out what Johnny Thirteen was doing here."

"As long as he doesn't end up making an appearance, I'm pretty sure you'll do fine," Sen said.

"Yeah. As long as _none_ of the criminals on our ever-growing list shows up," ProtoMan added.

"Do you ever wonder who Johnny works for?" Nami asked.

"All the time. As far as I'm concerned, he's just a criminal in need of a catharsis," Chaud said. "He's an amateur who works for himself and uses his gang for his own benefit."

"That's a good point... but still. With all the talk of Wily's son and Wily himself... there's really nothing definite, right?"

"Nami. Relax," Chaud told her. "They're just—"

"Thirteen bloodthirsty criminals out to kill us all?"

"Well, yeah... but this place is airtight with security now. I'm positive this will be a safe place to be for the next couple days. And a tournament to boot."

"Best in country, huh... think you're up for it?" Sen asked.

"Of course we are!"

---

"Denial? Angst? Lust?"

"No lust. I think they're almost just reverting back to a division of 'friends.' They HAVE been pretty busy lately dealing with us carrying out your half-wit schemes."

"Still. They seem to doubt your gang and me."

"Naturally. They're kids, and they're so... self-important."

"Children these days."

"I know. But what can we do about?"

Regal turned the telescope over to Darque. "Do you see that?"

"That's a BIG meteor."

"And it's on a direct collision course with Earth."

"So? What about it? No Earth means no us, too, doc."

"I'm aware. Look again. And look hard."

Darque squinted into the telescope. "It's... blue. It's manmade!?"

"One hundred percent."

"Who—"

"First of all, no. I did not have anything to do with this."

"So why am I here listening to you? I'm already in trouble with Johnny as is, why take me here and make things worse for all involved?"

"I created you and your twelve brethren. _I own you_."

"Gee, thanks for the swell reminder."

"You are acquainted with Lan Hikari, are you not?" Regal sighed.

"Yeah... what of it?"

"His father. Dr. Yuichiro Hikari. He will know about this meteor, and as it gets closer to earth, more and more scientists will be alerted of this phenomenon."

"So... what am I supposed to report back to Johnny about?"

"Take up base there."

Darque stared at Regal for a few seconds. "Regal. That thing is miles and miles away from the Earth's surface. You didn't create ANY of us with wings."

"I am perfectly aware of this fact. You've known me the longest, Darque. I do my research."

"It's a flying space-rock. What's to research?"

"It's a flying _manmade_ space-rock. I did some scientific analysis on it. It's got the same dimensional area code as you and the Arriman program."

"The Arriman...? Is THAT where they sentenced it?"

"The Arriman program is trapped in a high security prison chamber in the depths of that rock hurtling through hyperspace."

"And... what are we supposed to do about it? We're not gonna let it go, are we?"

"Johnny wants it. Has he ever told you about it?"

"Yeah, he talks about it like the Bible. But still, that thing is dangerous. It'll probably eat him alive, and then we'd never be able to give those brats in Den Tech what they deserve."

"We're not letting it go. I'm sure you're aware of the Hawk Tournament?"

"No duh. Why'd we have to hack in Chaud and Nami?"

"It's just a setup. You know that."

"I KNOW IT'S A SETUP! And they know it too, they're on their guard, and security down there just got twenty times bigger!"

"Nothing I know you can't handle. Have Patch hack into something. The world _is_ completely Internet-based now."

"I know. How else would I exist?"

"Speaking of which. Before you go up there, I want to see the whole team here. I've noticed you recently got one of yourselves caught in prison."

"Only for a while," Darque said. "Patch and Carter managed to wrench him out."

"I know. Rage came and gave the report himself."

"Well, good for him."

"Get everyone up here tomorrow before the first match of the tournament."

"WAIT! Let me guess! You want us to do something to the tournament!"

"You always were intuitive, Darque."

"Ace and Carter went back to Netopia with the rest, and the Laroches are busy with the wedding plans in Netfrica, of all places."

"Tell them to get back here now or I will have my assassin round you all up. I don't care if they're out of state or out of country. Everyone is getting back here tomorrow."

---

"Your father will be pleased," Johnny snapped at Regal. The entire gang had been woken up at three AM to meet in the deserted warehouse in Nation X before the Hawk Tournament started. "This is ridiculous, completely uncalled for, and insane. Congratulations."

"Give credit where credit is due," Regal said. "Now. I need to run a scan on all of you."

"What for?" Carter demanded. "We're all working perfectly fine!"

"Sure... yet I notice that a certain Raoul Meunier was missing from work at the ice plant yesterday... care to explain, Ace?"

Ace turned away. "I was sick."

"You weren't sick. It's a virus."

"Uh, newsflash," Johnny said, "Viruses cause illness. Go back to grade school before I kick you there."

"Always the clever one, eh, Johnny?" Regal said. "Your men are dying before your eyes, yet you do nothing?"

"It's not death until you shut us down, and you know it," Johnny barked. "Almighty Creator, says you. Coward afraid to do his own work, says me."

"I could kill you now, yet you show no fear."

"Why would I? I got nothing better to do," Johnny retorted, leaning back on top of the bookshelf he sat on. "If you've got enough nerve to say you'll send out _your assassin_ to get us, then this must be important. Therefore, you wouldn't DARE turn us off until we do your dirty work," he finished, completely aware that the Assassin himself had just walked in the door.

"Why on earth would you assume that?" Regal asked, stung.

"Two heads are better than one," Axiom said. "And we've got eleven heads more to ourselves than you and Blackie."

"The famed Black Assassin can't accomplish everything we can," Johnny added. "I assume you were right in the head when you gave each of us a different, unique ability."

"He's Wily's son, of course he did," the Assassin snapped, glaring up at Johnny.

"Yeah, whatever," he scoffed, scowling back into the shadows over the bookshelf. "Once you're done roaming the streets like a stray cat, maybe I'll consider what you say to be something worth listening to."

"Let it be, boys," Regal snapped, "I'm tired of playing referee to your foolish games."

"And you think YOU have the stressful job."

"About this virus..."

"VIRUSES CAUSE ILLNESS."

"I'm aware, thank you, Johnny. I've noticed it happening in Darque, Caden, Carter, and Patch as well, just yesterday."

"There's a strain of flu going around," Carter said. "It might just be that."

"Might be. But might not. I haven't seen it quite like this in anyone outside the Alliance."

"Fine. Do your scan," Johnny sighed. "If we're not 100 better in an hour, we're not doing jack tomorrow at the tournament."

---

Wednesday, February 12

7 AM

"Mamoru?" Nami knocked softly on the door the next morning. "Do you need anything before I leave?" she asked, walking in.

"I'll be fine," he sighed. "I hate getting sick..."

"I know you do," Nami said sympathetically. "I'll make you and Sean and Ailee some soup when I get home from school if you like..."

"That would be great," Mamoru said, coughing. "Go before you catch it too. And tell Raize to get out of the house."

"He's coming to watch the match with Allen. It's after the college classes get out, so they'll be able to," Nami told him. "Get some rest, ok? No work today. Put the laptop away, the hospital will be fine without you for a few more days."

"Fine..." Nami slipped quietly out the door and into Raize's room, shaking him awake and relaying Mamoru's message.

"Should be fun... when're you up?"

"Half past five, you'll be out of class by then."

"All right... I'll be there..."

"Call Allen and remind him."

"I will... go crack some skulls, sis..." Raize turned over and fell back asleep.

With a sigh, Nami closed Raize's door and went downstairs to get the toast she had made as Chaud knocked on the door.

"Ready?" he asked, accepting an offered piece of toast.

"I hope so..."

"How's everyone?"

"Raize and I are the only ones not sick so far," Nami sighed. "It's so weird. They NEVER get sick."

"I hear there's the end-of-winter flu going around," Chaud said. "It'll pass. It always does."

"I know... but it's been about a year and half since Ailee last got sick. And about three years since Mamoru did."

"Mamoru's a doctor," Chaud pointed out. "Everything he does is in a completely sterilized environment.

"That's true... this must really be some flu."

"Let's just hope you and Raize don't get it too."

"And you," Nami added. "You're around us enough to catch it, too."

"Nothing will happen to me," Chaud promised. "Now let's start walking before we're late for school."

---

"Psst! Hey, Chaud!" Lan hissed at him during history class.

Chaud sighed, knowing he'd have to give in eventually. "Later, Lan..."

"I need to talk to you!"

"After class."

"Promise me we'll be able to talk!"

"Fine, just shut up before we get in trouble," Chaud whispered.

Lan sat in silence for the rest of the class. The nanosecond the bell rang, Lan dragged Chaud outside.

"What is so important!?" Chaud snapped.

"Did you read the news this morning?" Lan asked.

"No, I was running late—"

"Look!" Lan pulled out an article from the morning's newspaper. "Remember all that stuff your dad said?"

"What about it?"

"Read it! He took it all back!"

It was true. Mr. Blaze had made a public statement about everything he had said about Nami, taking it back and apologizing IN PUBLIC to his son, to Nami, and to her family.

"Oh, dear God. This is outrageous, but... nice."

"Nami! Come look!" Maylu dragged Nami over from their science class. "Read this!"

"Oh... Chaud, did you say...?"

"I didn't tell him to do anything..."

**((YAAY FOR MIRACLES! Sorry I've been slow in updating these past few months, with the end of school and me getting a job things have been a little turbulent on my end. I'm just glad we got this far! Thanks to my readers, especially to lightningstar-icy for your constant reviews, they really help me along!))**


	46. Hawk Match 1

Chapter Forty-Six:

Hawk Match 1

Wednesday, February 11

3:27 PM

"Today might not be as bad as I thought," Nami said, walking down the stairs outside at the end of school.

"Yeah. It's actually turning out a lot better than I expected," Chaud agreed, passing through the line out of school to collect their PETs.

The temporary ban on metal and PETs in schools had finally been put into effect. Not that it was accomplishing anything other than getting the school out of class thirty minutes early so everyone could get their PET on time. Maether, however, was very pleased with the new security measures.

"What with the whole article thing..."

"THING ALERT!" Sen shouted the second she heard Nami's voice say the word "thing." "That makes... how many, now?" she asked ProtoMan.

"Um... wait, let's count... FlashMan, Zoo, hospital, Sunayama, BubbleWash, N1, Alpha, Johnny Thirteen, jail, Terry's article, your dad's first article, Christmas, New Year's, Higsby's aliens—"

"That was more of a thing_let_."

"Fine... But, there was the whole thing with Yuko, about three things with Wily, nightmare, the DarkChip, the Black Assassin... am I missing any?" ProtoMan asked.

"I don't think so..."

"That's... how many, counting this NEW article?"

"And your thinglet? Twenty-one and a half," ProtoMan added up.

Chaud and Nami laughed. "Twenty-one and a half... that's ridiculous."

"Just goes to show," Nami said, "we've really been through a lot together. Twenty-one and a half things worth mentioning over and over."

"I don't know about 'over and over,' but yeah... you're right," Chaud realized. "Let's go back to your house and make Mamoru and them some soup, right?"

"Right..." Nami frowned.

"What?"

"I'm still a little shocked about that..."

"Article?"

"Yeah. It's almost like he's _trying_ to be ultra-super-floofy-nice."

"It's a little creepy, and I wouldn't be the first to call my dad... _floofy_... but yeah. Either he just wants to get off the blacklist or he's really sorry."

"Either way, I'm not complaining. But all our 'thing'-ness is pretty amazing. Lots of good memories... and some not so good."

"Yeah... like the alien thing," Chaud agreed. "Let's face it. Any alien smart enough to be able to travel to Earth would be smart enough not to come in the first place."

"I hate to admit, but you're right. But Higsby's not gonna admit that anytime soon."

"True."

"But let's think... what could possess your dad to do all this?" Nami asked, reverting back to the issue of Mr. Blaze's 'floofy'-ness.

"I have no idea. I have this lurking suspicion that a crazed maniac held him at gunpoint until he agreed to change his less-than-friendly-but-more-than-evil ways," Chaud said.

"Oh, come on. You don't think he could honestly have changed?"

"No."

"Wow. You're so forgiving," ProtoMan said seriously. "Not even the slightest chance?"

"Not a bit. It's still too weird for me. I mean... he's never acted like this that I can remember. It's just too weird."

"I guess... but anyway. Let's go into the building full of sick people," Nami said, opening the door to her house.

"Ladies first," Chaud reminded her.

"Age before beauty," she told him, giving him a little shove into the house. "Ha! I win!"

"Darn you."

Once inside, the pair found Mamoru sitting on the downstairs couch. "Hi, guys..."

"Feeling any better?" Nami asked.

"Nope. But there was some guy who came around selling medicine, so I got some—"

"You did _what_?!" Nami asked, appalled.

"Yeah... I know what it is, it works... I AM a doctor..."

"You BOUGHT something from a solicitor?" Nami asked incredulously. "You really ARE sick. Go back upstairs while me 'n Chaud make you some soup... sounds like you could use it."

"I'm serious, it really works..."

"Then why are you still sick?" Nami sighed, helping him back up the stairs.

"We have solicitors?" Chaud asked ProtoMan in shock.

"I guess we do now. Maether's gonna be mad."

Nami came back down the stairs with a medicine bottle in hand.

"Have you ever seen this before?" she asked, showing Chaud the bottle label.

"FluGo... nope. Never heard of it."

"Huh... Mamoru bought it because it was approved by his hospital, but... I don't know. It looks kinda shady."

"I know. Not a lot of medicines are a tie-dye red and blue. Anyway... soup."

"Let's get started before someone jumps out a window or something. I'm starting to think this is like the super-flu or something," Chaud said.

"It's just a flu. Hopefully, it won't last long. Mamoru just got everybody immunized last week..."

A pot of water on the stove began to boil. Nami added ingredients just as Raize came downstairs.

"Whatcha doing?" he asked.

"Making soup for sick people," Nami said. "Want some?"

"Not if it's for sick people."

Nami laughed. "It's just chicken noodle soup."

"I'm good. I'm gonna go meet up with Allen in a bit so we can hang out for a while. I'll be at the match, don't worry. Mamoru sneezed at me to tell you."

"All right..." Raize went back upstairs.

"Weird as this is, one can only wonder how things at the tournament are going to end up."

"Yeah. Don't burn the water," Chaud warned her. She swatted his hand away, laughing.

"I burn _one_ egg—"

"Three."

"I burn _three_ eggs and you think I'll burn water?" she demanded jokingly, shaking the wooden stirring spoon at him and repressing laughter.

"You never know. Eggs are kinda watery."

"Sure. Salt, please?"

Chaud picked up the salt shaker from the table, passing it to her. "Is this special soup like your special cookies?"

"No. Didn't you hear me? It's sick people soup."

"Gotcha." Chaud sat down in a chair by the table, passing her ingredients when requested.

"You know, you _could_ be a little more helpful," Nami said suggestively, stirring in the noodles.

"I could."

"You are perfectly capable of helping me."

"I know."

"And you are in perfect health, unlike the rest of this house."

"I am."

"And I know you're competent enough to answer me in more than two word sentences."

"That's true."

Nami laughed, still stirring. "You're not going to help me, are you?"

"You could just ask," Chaud said, getting up and hugging her from behind. "You don't always have to be so subtle, you know."

"That was subtle?"

"Sure was."

"_Get a room!_" Raize shouted from the top of the stairs as he came sliding down the banisters and hurtled out the door.

"If we do, you'd better stay out of it!" Nami shouted back, pink in the face. "Immature dweeb!"

---

"Excellent news, everyone. You and the rest of the Minors have recovered beautifully. However... the Majors are still showing signs of the virus."

"What now? We can't show up with only half a crew," Darque snapped. "Me through Rage is only seven numbers."

"Which is _more_ than the six Majors," Regal pointed out. "Making you _more _than half of a team. Besides. Without Johnny, you might stand a chance."

"Doubting your own creation?"

"No. Just remembering that Johnny has a rashness that I don't recall putting in him."

"Duh. He's Johnny. You don't _control_ Johnny."

"No, I don't. I just try to. Get the Minors to the match. You're doing some work."

"I can't believe this."

"Believe it. Minors going in."

---

5:20 PM

Ten Minutes Until the Match

Maether sat in his office, reviewing the Alliance case files.

"There has to be something missing..."

The records for the trial... Raize brought in a nurse... _has forgotten to mention_...

_WAIT!_

"If the Hallissy boy forgot to mention it, why didn't any of his siblings speak up?" Maether asked himself, feeling close to a breakthrough. "If his siblings were with him as he stated, they should all remember seeing the nurse... but none of them said anything... and the girl... the little Hallissy, she had the chance to say something to his defense, but she said nothing..."

"Maether sir, it's past quitting time," one of his assistants said as he passed the door. "Good night, sir."

"Yes... good night..."

Picking up the files, Maether rushed out the door to find the "little Hallissy girl."

---

"Rage ain't coming, is he?" Darque sighed.

"Can't, it'll raise too much suspicion," Carter sighed. "If he's missing from dear sissy's match and Rage shows up on the scene which Raize is conveniently missing from, Maether will be _dying_ to take the bait."

"Gotcha. Better to be one man down than to risk that jail cell again."

"Yeah. All in. Now, what are we doing?"

"What was the deal with that asteroid thing?" Caden asked Darque in a whisper while Carter elaborated on the plan.

"It's gonna kill us all," Darque said matter-of-factly. "It's Regal's new crazy plan."

"Dang. Him and his dad," Caden said, shaking his head. "Chip off the ol' block, Regal."

"He certainly inherited his dad's craziness."

"All clear, everyone?" Carter was saying. "Move out!"

"Wait!" Axiom snapped, glancing over his shoulder.

"What is it, Five?"

"Look! Maether's got a hold of Nami," he said, looking down off the roof into the courtyard.

"What the... aw, where's Patch when you need him?" Darque lamented. "Ace... go find out what he's saying."

"On it."

Ace dropped down to a lamppost just above the interrogating Maether and a very confused Nami.

"...recall what your brother said in court?" Maether was asking.

"Every word... why?"

"He said that he ran into a nurse who helped him on the tram."

"Yeah... what of it?"

"Did you see the nurse?"

"Well..."

Ace swore under his breath, leaping back up to the rooftop as fast as he could.

"He's trying to break her," he reported. "Questioning her about Carter's nurse act."

"We brainwashed her and the rest of her fam pretty well, though," Darque said confidently, "we shouldn't have to worry."

"I know, but I know the look that was on her face, and it wasn't the look we'd want to see. Maether's getting through to her."

Darque swore as well, instructing Caden to go find Rage.

"But—"

"We need his double ID to fool Maether, and as Rage he can ensure the programming on them doesn't break," Darque snapped. "Find him, NOW."

---

5:25

Five Minutes Until The Match

"This better be for a good reason," Raize snapped.

"It is," Caden promised. "Your lil' sister? Yeah. She's getting interrogated by Maether about you, and she can't seem to remember, one way or the other."

"But... I thought Johnny—"

"Yeah. We thought too. But it's not gonna hold out much longer," Caden said. "Go be the hero and rescue her. Double it up, and then send her back to her boyfriend. Match starts in five."

"You want me to re-manipulate my own sister?"

"Good boy."

"I thought I wasn't in on this."

"You weren't. But now you are. Go save your sister before she gets arrested."

---

Chaud sat in the participant's hall, waiting for Nami. _Where is she?_

Finally, Raize and Nami appeared in the doorway. "...stay out of trouble," Raize was saying.

"Okay..." Nami had an slightly blank look on her face as Raize led her to a chair.

"There you are!... Nami? Are you all right?" Chaud asked.

"Your boss caught her," Raize explained. "He was interrogating her about me. Not that I'm accusing him of something or anything."

"Yeah... better go find a seat, Raize," Chaud said absently, still concerned.

"Will do. Crack some skull." Raize left to rejoin Allen, waiting just outside.

"What was that about?" Allen, Raize's blond college mate, asked.

"Official captain was bothering my sister," Raize said dismissively. "It's no big deal."

"Yeah. Nami can take care of herself."

They left. Chaud and Nami were still in the hall, the tournament names being called out as they waited. Nami had not moved from her chair.

"Nami, are you sure you're all right?" Chaud asked, kneeling down to be eye level with her.

"I'll be fine... in a minute..."

"We don't _have_ a minute, though, that's the problem—"

"It's a setup..."

"I know it's a setup," Chaud said, partly out of impatience and partly out of worry. "Nami, can you even stand on your own?"

"I don't know..."

"Nami, what happened?"

"I can't remember..."

_Is this like Higsby's alien thing coming back to haunt me?_ "Have you recently been in contact with pink fluorescent lights?"

Nami blinked.

Taking a deep breath to sound as convincing as possible, Chaud tried something completely drastic to shock her back to herself.

"_Nami, I am breaking up with you."_

ProtoMan and Sen both looked up.

"WHAT!?" Sen shouted.

"Sen, shhh," ProtoMan said, getting what Chaud was trying to do.

It wasn't working. Nami stared at the ground.

"Something's _definitely _not right," Chaud said authoritatively.

"Well, this tournament's a setup anyway," ProtoMan said. "Why not just ditch?"

"Because. I want to win this fight so I can crush Atsuki."

"Ooh. Jealous already?" Sen scoffed, still believing that Chaud had really broken it off with Nami.

"Sen, he didn't mean it," ProtoMan explained patiently. "Nami's not herself."

"No duh. Lemme fix it," Sen sighed.

"YOU COULD FIX HER ALL THIS TIME AND YOU DIDN'T SAY ANYTHING!?"

Sen laughed. Just the sort of thing Sen would do.

"Just get her in the ring."

"Sen... are you sure about this?" ProtoMan asked uncertainly.

"I promise, after this, she'll be totally fine."

"You SWEAR?"

"I can't swear. If I did, I'd get shut down."

"You know what I mean."

Sen sighed. "Yeah, sure. I swear."

"Good."

Chaud helped support Nami into the ring, hoping whatever Sen was planning would work.

---

"Wow. Rage did a nice job," Darque commented, the group gathering on the top of the castle towers to stare down at the open air stadium.

"Too nice," Carter said, peering down the battlements. "She didn't look so hot when he took her back to that Blaze kid."

"Don't worry. That Navi of hers can fix her right up..."

The rest of the team whipped around and stared at Darque.

"That Navi can fix her?"

"Don't worry. Sen doesn't know it, but she's on our side."

Caden smiled. "What did Rage do?"

"Nothing. It's just... in her head."

"Sweet... can we expect DarkChip action?" Ace asked, twirling a card in his hands.

"Heck no. This is a _legal_ tournament, Ace."

"Yeah... so? How else is our girl gettin' fixed up?" Deton asked, taking his place between Ace and Axiom.

"Just you wait... this'll be better than that wedding in Netfrica."

Nami could barely stand on her own, Chaud looked worried as the other team crossfused.

"This could turn out interestingly... too bad Johnny had to miss out."

"We can't do anything until after these matches are done, anyway... he might still show," Axiom sighed. "Knowing _him_."

There was momentary silence as Chaud crossfused and Nami did the same.

"Who else hates being called a Minor?" Deton asked. The other five all raised their hands.

"Who _doesn't_ hate being called a Minor, us aside?" Darque retorted. "It's degrading. And it sucks."

"Which is stating the same thing twice," Axiom sighed.

"That just gives it more emphasis."

"Sure it does..."

More silence. Sen had taken over Nami's crossfusion somehow, much to the shock of the other contenders.

"Nicely done, Sen," Darque breathed into the silence. "That'll give us some nice magnetic fields to work off of later tonight..."

"What does being a Minor in the Alliance even mean?" Axiom asked curiously.

"Means we're not as sophisticated as Johnny and the Major fellas," Caden answered simply.

"Dorks."

"Well, it's that... and there's some pretty nifty perks that come with Major-ism," Darque added.

"Are there, now? Like what, leadership?"

Darque sighed.

"Look. All of us led this gang once. Every time, the gang got bigger."

"You should know best, you were the only one ever allowed to work solo," Caden added. "Until I came."

"Until the next number up, we only had as many men as we'd had before, plus one."

"What does this have to do with the difference between Major-ism and Minor-dom?" Axiom asked.

"It's all about technology. You know that. Not a lot of people know, but I was created with what was considered hi-tech... at my time. Twenty years ago."

"Obsolete old chip jewelry a proper current description?"

Darque whacked Caden upside the head to make him shut up. "We've all been updated. But since our cores are obsolete now, all Regal can do is add on to us with his crazy technician skills."

"So...?"

"That means, Archer up through Johnny have the more durable cores. They're trusted with the tougher assignments. All of us here have the older cores, because we're older than Johnny."

"Plus Rage."

"_NOT_ plus Rage. Rage is different," Darque explained. "Regal created Rage different than us before he started the Major-Leaguers."

"Rage knows who his human is," Caden said. "He's the only one who does. We're not allowed to know who our humans are unless Regal lets it slip. Consequently... everyone knows who our dear friend Ace is now."

Ace growled, "One of these days, I will get him back..."

"So wait," Axiom said, "Rage knows everything he does in both... lives, so to speak?"

"That's one way of putting it... then again, so do we."

Carter frowned. "Wait a minute... there have been no crazy Official reports about people running up to them saying 'OMIGOD I THINK I'M JOHNNY THIRTEEN!' because they remembered something from one of our jobs."

"You think Regal would be that stupid?" Darque snapped. "He only did that with me, and he never made that mistake again."

"So... your human knows too?"

"Kinda. Fortunately, Regal told me that I'm in a scientist or something. Someone who would know that anything they might 'remember' from our heists is 'illogical' or something."

"Good..."

More silence. The two opposing teams were whittling each other away, Sen and Chaud clearly dominating the play field.

"Anyone know who Johnny's human is?" Carter asked conversationally.

"_No one_ does, moron."

"That's not true, Numero Uno," Caden said reproachfully. "Regal obviously does."

"Well, duh. Goes without saying, so why say it?"

Carter sighed. "Blaze thinks it's her."

"The kid?" Axiom asked.

"The big shot dad."

"Hm. Interesting. Regal wouldn't be above doing something like that... but still."

"Imprisoning a supposedly fully grown and most murderous program of us all inside a girl?" Deton asked. "Somehow I doubt it."

"I couldn't see him doing that, either," Darque said. "Given her age and how long it takes for that kind of technology to work... he would have had to kidnap her from her undoubtedly loving parents, seriously right at birth."

"Okay then... but I'm not ruling it out."

"No one should. For all we know, it could be the Hikari kid, or it could be one of the people in the stands," Darque said realistically.

The match ended, Sen and Chaud standing victorious. As the next match took place, the team lolled in the battlements, waiting for their time to strike.


	47. Shot Down

Chapter Forty-Seven:

Shot Down

9:14 PM

"Those moving on: Blaze and little H, the pair of blonde girls down the street from the safehouse, the pink-haired movie brat and the jerk, and a couple of dudes from the mafia in downtown ACDC town," Carter reeled off as the last match finished, people filing out from all directions.

"Mafia creeps?" Deton asked, perking up. "_Electopia_ has a _mafia_? SWEET! We should get in touch!"

"What'd I miss?" Just as Axiom had predicted, Johnny had shown up.

"Thought you were out with the virus," Darque sighed.

"Virus, my foot," Johnny snapped. "And various other body parts I do not care to name. Now, what did I miss?"

"Not a lot," Caden yawned. "Just a load of—"

"Fighting," Axiom cut in.

"Did Blaze and the Hallissy gal make it through?"

"Naturally," Axiom responded.

"What about the mafia dudes?"

Darque stared at him. "You knew there were mafia men on the inside?"

Johnny crossed his arms. "_Please_. I set this thing up, I should know who I put through."

"Then why on EARTH did you put those two annoying chicks down the street in for!?" Carter demanded. "They're so annoying and they can't even fight!"

"Well, they made it through, then," Johnny deducted from Carter's outrage. "Excellent. More easy pickings."

"What's next, then, boss?" Axiom asked dutifully.

"We put our kids up against the mafia duo, and cotton-candy-for-hair against the blondies."

"We're putting _Blaze_... against the _mafia_?" Darque asked seriously. "Does anyone else see the fault in this?"

"Good job, you can listen. I thought we learned basic listening skills years ago," Johnny sighed. "YES, we're putting the mafia against Blaze. Anyone care to have a guess as to why?"

"Because you're an idiot who's getting uninstalled?" Ace shot.

"If I was getting the decruitment call, who would tell you what to do all day?" Johnny snapped back. "Any _other_ guesses?"

"Because Blaze'll get the Officials to ambuscade them on the spot and that's an auto-win for them," Caden parsed.

"Good job. Hopefully, it'll be somewhat more climactic than that, but yes. That'd be the general idea."

"Hey, Johnny," Carter asked suddenly, "you know who our humans are?"

Johnny fell silent. "Why would I?" he asked after a long pause.

"You're the 'newest model,' so to speak," Carter continued. "And you're always with Regal."

"I don't even know who my _own_ human is," Johnny said evenly. "All I know is that Raize Hallissy is Rage Seven, and, most recently, that Raoul Meunier is Ace Three. Quite a shock. Raoul seemed nice enough."

"So did Raize," Caden said fairly. "Then again, he's kinda screwed himself over by skipping classes."

"Not that dear siblings know," Darque laughed. "The ignorance in that family could kill someone."

"Not true," Johnny said. "They're pretty in tune with each other. Most of the time. There are lots of secrets around them... you might be surprised."

Johnny led the raid down into the open air ring, sabotaging everything within reach along the way.

"Are we really going to be that obvious?" Axiom asked cautiously, following the leader into the depths.

"Why not? They got security everywhere, just make it harder for them to figure out."

"Figure out what?" Caden wondered aloud, snapping a metal rod in two.

"Whether we were here to steal, destroy, sabotage, or just be annoying."

Carter sighed, hanging his head. "Johnny, could you just get to the point for once in your life?" he asked.

Johnny laughed. "Not only am I evil, but my particular brand of evil requires stealth, cunning, and comes with the added bonus of uncontrollable flying space rocks."

"That was a point... how?" Carter asked, confused.

"Just break stuff."

Without hesitation, the team proceeded to wreck the stadium, talking in hushed tones behind Johnny's back.

"What is he trying to pull?" Ace asked Caden, uprooting a row of chairs.

"If I knew, I'm sure it wouldn't make any more sense than it does right now. You know him, it's like he thinks backwards, sideways, and across the farthest corner of the sky."

"True..."

Meanwhile, Darque and Deton were busy obliterating the snack stands.

"Ready?" Darque asked.

"On my count, then... one. Two. THREE!"

Both men fired blasts of energy at the stands. In a matter of moments, the place was a smoldering ruin of what it once was.

"It's so sad," Darque sighed. "What used to be an artistic science has now become a spectator sport."

"What, Netbattling?" Deton asked.

"Yeah. Crossfusion is still relatively new..."

"Not to us," Deton pointed out. "Remember—"

"Shh," Darque warned. "Never know who's watching..."

"Yeah, yeah..."

"But you're right, I know what you mean," Darque said. "He's way ahead of his time... not sure if that's a good thing."

"If only he used his powers for good, instead of evil," Deton said in mock sincerity.

They burst out laughing, turning from the smoke to rejoin Johnny as he summoned them.

"Remind me why we're doing this," Johnny was saying.

"We were just discussing that," Ace and Caden said.

"Will I get in trouble for something I didn't do?" Carter asked.

"That depends. What didn't you do?" Johnny asked cautiously.

"My homework. How are we supposed to know why we're doing this if you just tell us to break stuff, _after_ you said we're putting the Blaze kid and little H up against the downtown mafia?"

"Think about it. We wreck the stadium of a legal tournament, that'll get them some press here, yeah?" Johnny said pointedly.

"Yeah... so?"

"So, we get the press here—"

"And subject their cameras to burning at three thousand degrees?" Axiom suggested hopefully.

"No. We get the press here, and we have Blaze take out the mafia at the same time," Johnny explained.

"Great thinking," Darque admitted. "But how do the press and the mafia make our lives easier?"

Johnny stared at them. "MAN, you guys are slow."

"We just don't have your brilliant intelligence capacity," Caden sighed. "Get on with it."

"Removing the mafia from ACDC town does _nothing whatsoever_ for us," Johnny said. "BUT! What it _does_ do is place any and all suspicion of criminal activity on us... and anybody going postal."

The team was in an uproar.

"WHAT?!" Deton snapped. "No! You can't do that! We'll never get a moment's peace!"

"Then you'll just have to pick up the pace, then, won't you?" Johnny shot back.

"If we take out the mafia, there'll be no one to scapegoat except ourselves," Darque said relatively calmly. "If we betamax all our criminal competition out, then we're the only ones left for them to arrest."

"But we won't be _betamaxing_, my dear Darque, because we are not inferior to the mafia," Johnny corrected. "If anything, we _are_ much better publicized."

"You're not answering the question!" Carter barked furiously. "What are you trying to accomplish by jailing the mafia?"

"Just that. Get the mafia behind bars. Preferably heavy-duty ones with maximum security."

"But what does that do for you?" Axiom asked.

"What it does is publicize us even better than before," Johnny said. "It'll lure them into a false sense of security. If the Officials think they're close to catching every last criminal in Electopia, they'll lay off security a bit, because there aren't as many criminals to watch out for."

"Yeah, just you, and you're the most dangerous of them all!" Ace pointed out.

"I notice that we're not using the proper pronoun," Johnny said. "All of you have pinned this on me as though this was all my doing. You must remember, YOU decided to help me."

"YOU'RE THE LEADER!" Caden shouted at him. "What are we supposed to do, rebel?!"

"NO!" Johnny roared, raising his voice for the first time. The Minor team fell silent. "What you were SUPPOSED to do was take charge of YOUR mission! You let me in on your mission, and if weren't me, the consequences would have been catastrophic!"

"You took over the lead... to trick us... to teach us a lesson about _not_ letting you lead?" Ace asked.

"That's not what I said. This was YOUR mission. YOU should have had a complete plan. Instead, Axiom asked _me_ what was next, even though I was not supposed to be here, and when I came down here, you all followed me blind and did what I told you. You're all so used to having a leader since your time ended so long ago!"

"That's not our fault, now, is it?!" Darque snapped.

"Whose fault it is, I don't care," Johnny said menacingly, "the fact remains that what we've done tonight will stand, and the mafia will take the blame for it. Since they're getting jailed, we might as well lay low for a bit, but this will only make the grand scheme of things better..."

---

The Next Day

Library, DTC High

11:22 AM

Maether walked into the library, unnoticed amongst the students there for study hall, catching up on projects to be completed before spring break next month.

The librarian looked up, a tad confused to see the head of the Official division in the school.

"Can I help you?" she asked as he approached the desk.

"I'm looking for two students... Blaze and Hallissy."

"They're in here for the period," the librarian confirmed, checking her study hall list. "What's the matter?"

"I need to take them out of school. It's very urgent."

"Sir, unless someone is dying..."

The look on Maether's face could have burned a crisp hole right through her desk.

"Let. Me. See. Them."

The librarian pointed wordlessly to a small table behind one of the bookshelves.

"What do you think it means?" Nami was asking, looking at a star chart hung from the ceiling.

"Hm? I don't know," Chaud said. "We're here for programming, not sparkly dots, Nami."

"But really! Some people think you can read them and tell the future!" Nami said. "What do you see?"

Chaud looked resignedly up at the chart. Sometimes Nami was easily distracted from something she didn't want to do...

"I think it means we're all going to die," he declared.

"Really?"

"It's true. We all live, and all living things die... just not necessarily at the same time. And hopefully not soon."

Chaud lowered his gaze from the chart to see Maether standing over them.

"Studying hard, I hope?"

Chaud frowned, unsure of how much Maether had heard. "Here to pull me out of school again?"

"_Both_ of you, actually."

Nami looked up at him as well. "Really? What for?"

"Come with me and I will explain."

Still confused, Chaud shoved his books back into his backpack and followed Maether out, Nami traipsing behind him.

"What's this about?" she asked him in a whisper.

"I don't know... he's never showed up in person before..."

Once at the edge of the gates, Maether handed them their PETs straight off instead of having them go through the hassle of the metal detectors.

"What's going on?" Chaud asked. Maether looked grim as he responded.

"I have been given instructions to retrieve the both of you and take you on the tram to the beach area."

_No way. There _has_ to be more than this. Maether doesn't do vacations... or civilians..._

"Um... the beach? Sir?" Nami asked, perplexed.

"This is more than a simple day, you two."

"How so?" Chaud demanded, thinking this a waste of their precious studying time.

"Dr. Mamoru Hallissy has been shot."

Nami stared in disbelief at him. Chaud recognized the familiar cold wave of realization quickly replace her shock. "No... not Mamoru..."

"Mamoru?" Chaud asked. "But... he was off today, wasn't he, Nami?"

"He's been sick... unless someone came into the house...?"

Heads reeling, Maether led them to the tram, the passing cars and people a blur in Chaud's mind.

_If he's been sick... and he was at home... but... how?_

Once on the tram, Maether ensured the compartment was empty aside from them, and sat them down, pacing the compartment.

"As I understand it, there was a medicine called FluGo that he was taking..."

Nami stared at the window across from her, a mixture of confusion and grief etched on her face. "I told him not to..."

"The medicine is a bit unstable, but perfectly safe, I had it tested when your sister brought it to me," Maether said quickly. "No matter. He was well enough to work today, and as he was walking from the tram to the doors of the hospital, someone gunned him down."

"Gunned him down?" Nami asked, unwilling to believe what was happening. "Is... will he...?"

"Is he going to be all right?" Chaud asked, voicing Nami's concern.

Maether looked Nami square in the eyes. "We don't know yet."

"Why... are you taking us there?" she asked.

"Your sister Ailee was very... _unyielding_ in her request that I take you both to her at once. She may be able to better explain Dr. Hallissy's condition to you than I am."

"All right..."

The tram slowed to a stop, the doors opened.

"Let's go." Maether led the way out, Chaud and Nami following.

"Nami... he'll be all right," Chaud said quietly. "You know he will... he's strong. He'll be fine..."

"I know... but... why him?" she asked, her voice breaking. "What criminal decided to take him down over anyone else?"

"Who knows why criminals do anything they do?" Chaud countered. "Who knows. It might have just been an accident that Mamoru got the shots... maybe the shooter was aiming for someone else and had... really bad aim..."

_You're not helping... just shut up,_ Chaud thought to himself, screwing his eyes shut. _This isn't making anything better... hopefully Ailee will be able to explain things..._

Then again, the prospect of an enraged but somehow FluGo-high Ailee spewing out legal terms did not encourage him. Raize and an also cured Sean would probably not be much more help; Raize might well be trying to break the ice over Mamoru's hospital room with some sort of slapstick humor. Knowing him, he probably _would_ be. Which would do nothing but make Ailee more out of control, and cause Sean to shrink back into the shadows until the three of them came and some form of balance was restored.

Reaching the third floor of the hospital, Maether led them to the door and pushed it open.

Contradicting all of Chaud's preconceptions, Ailee was not pacing around like a maniac as she had been when Raize was arrested, Raize was not talking for the sake of having something to do, and Sean was not trying to stay out of the way. For one thing, Ailee and Sean were still sick, perhaps forbidden access to the medicine. And for another, Ailee was crying.

Ailee barreled out of the room, seized hold of her little sister and hugged her, tears streaming down her face.

"A-Ai! What—?"

"I-It's t-terrible!" Ailee choked out.

"Is he okay?" Nami asked through Ailee's suffocating grip.

"Th-Th doctors s-say he's s-stable," Ailee sniffled, refusing to relinquish her sister.

"All right, Ailee, that's enough," Sean said, his voice hoarse from his persistent sore throat. He grabbed the hem of Ailee's coat and dragged her backwards through the doorway, Nami along with her.

"Let Nami go before we have another in the hospital," Raize agreed. "You might get her sick, too."

Ailee let go, collapsing backwards into a chair facing Mamoru's bed. Only then did Chaud notice that Mamoru was, indeed, in the room.

All manner of strange cuts and bruises covered what was able to be seen of Mamoru's body; he had been caught in much more than just a crosshairs. A deep, recently stitched-up gash cut across his neck, reminiscent of the wound the Black Assassin had left on Nami at their first meeting. No bullet wounds were visible on his arms or face, the marks of whatever had shot him was concealed beneath clothes, blankets and bandages. The familiar hospital sound of an artificial breather resonated evenly and methodically; Mamoru was unable to breathe on his own. Whatever had happened, had _really_ happened.

"As you can no doubt see... Dr. Hallissy has been through a lot today," Maether said flatly. "As my work here is done, I shall take my leave..."

"OH, NO YOU DON'T!" Ailee snapped through her tears, sneezing and leaping up from her chair as though to tackle Maether to the ground if need be, sick or not.

Maether stopped just short of the door, a look of vexation on his face. "What else can I _possibly_ do for you now, Ms. Hallissy?"

"Find out who did this!" Ailee barked, stating the absurdly obvious, sneezing again.

"Ms. Hallissy, I have already explained—"

"I don't care! I want this— this shooter found and incarcerated!" Ailee shouted, sniffling.

"Ai, be quiet," Sean croaked, coughing into a handkerchief. "You might wake him up... and that's the last thing he needs."

Ailee crumpled back into her chair, dissolving into tears again.

"Leave now before she finds something else for you to do," Raize told Maether, almost sympathetic.

Without another word, Maether turned heel and left them, closing the door behind him.

"He's been running around doing things for her all day," Raize explained. "And... you know how she gets, Nami... with this at the center of it all, she's gone off the handle."

"Yeah..." Nami gazed at her bedridden brother, transfixed. "What happened...? He looks more than shot..."

"No one really knows," Sean said, still coughing. "No witnesses or anything... the receptionist came to work a few minutes after him and found him. Lucky thing she did, or he might have..."

Silence fell.

Hours could have passed without words between them.

Finally, something on the computer bleeped, giving them all a momentary case of beepilepsy as Mamoru's familiar Navi appeared, fuming.

"Stupid doctors don't know what they're doing..."

Raize shook his head vehemently, Sean's eyes widened, staring at him.

"What do you mean!?" Ailee snapped. "How can they not know—"

"That's not what I mean, Ailee," Akiron said quickly. Clearly her mood was worse than _extreme _by now. "Look. The doctors don't want to do anything that might hurt him, so they just want to keep him stable until they—"

"What can't they do!?"

"They don't want to scan him for metal or anything, because moving him would be too dangerous," Akiron started. "They can't do an MRI, because that's basically a big magnet, and since they don't know if he's got any bullets in him, that would be dangerous in case he does... and they don't want to operate on him because they can't figure out what's wrong with him BECAUSE they can't do any of these tests."

A speechless Ailee sank back into the chair, weeping.

"So... we're just supposed to wait here and accept the fact that they're not going to even try to do anything?" Sean asked, sneezing.

"They can't do anything, even _if_ they wanted to," Akiron said. "And they do," he added quickly before Ailee could start another uprising.

"Is there anything they _can_ do?" Raize croaked.

"Just... wait. Wait for him to naturally heal enough for them to do something."

"But that could take weeks!" Nami gasped. "Or months... he might not... even if..."

Nami leaned back against the wall, her face hidden in her hands. Without a word, Chaud pulled her towards him, holding her tightly.

"It'll be all right... Mamoru's one of the strongest men I've ever met," Chaud said, unable or unwilling to tell if he was lying to make her feel better or telling the truth and using it to their advantage. "He'll be all right..."

Nami lowered her hands, looking back at her brother. "He's strong... but it looks like the other guy was, too."

---

Five hours later, they were all still sitting quietly in the hospital room. Occasionally, someone had made a vague stab at conversation, only to let it die as the sound of Mamoru's respirator took over. None of them had eaten, gone outside of the room, or wondered what they would do once visiting hours were over at five o'clock..

Half of Chaud's conscious mind was willing him to believe that this was something that happened every day, that this was normal for people. The other half of his brain was reminding him that the sad fact remained that this WAS reality, and that just because it had finally happened to someone close to him didn't mean it never happened to anyone else.

Vaguely wondering if anyone at the school had even noticed their sudden absence, he checked the clock. 4:35.

ProtoMan and Sen appeared on the computer, causing another round of beepilepsy.

"How's everyone?" Sen asked conversationally.

"As fine as can be expected... where did you go?" Nami asked.

"We got rounded up by those sleazeball tournament officials," Sen explained.

_That's right! There's still that tournament..._

"They're not going to make us fight tonight, are they?" Chaud asked apprehensively.

"Well..."

"Yes," ProtoMan said flatly. "But there's a little bit of good news."

"Oh yeah?" Chaud asked. "And what's that?"

"Only one of you has to fight," Sen said.

"But..."

"And Nami's on bereavement leave tonight," Sen said.

"Bereavement... but... that's like he's..."

"Relax. It's just the tournament attempting to be _considerate_," ProtoMan sighed. "And, since the stadium was trashed last night, they've got press everywhere."

"So... they're using us... to make themselves look good?" Nami put together.

"That's the general idea."

"And they're afraid that you're go grief-stricken that you'll go insane and try to kill everyone in the stands just to see if any of them were the shooters," Sen added.

Nami sighed, shaking her head. "I will NEVER understand those people..."

"Oh, yeah... there are some paparazzi outside that are probably coming up right now," Akiron added, popping back into the screen. "I just checked out the security cams... they're probably on their way to the door."

Raize got up from the chair he was in and looked out the window.

"He's right. There are press vans outside..."

Severely annoyed, Ailee made to get up.

"Don't worry. I'll handle it," Chaud said, opening the door to head them off.

As expected, the paparazzi were just outside the elevator. The moment they saw him, there was a flurry of noise and flashbulbs.

_This was a BAD idea._

"What's going on with Dr. Hallissy?"

"Is his condition life-threatening?"

"How is the rest of the Hallissy family holding up?"

"Do you have anything to say?" someone asked.

"Yeah, I do. STOP MAKING A SPECTACLE OUT OF OUR LIVES!" Chaud snapped, backing into the hospital room, careful not to open the door wide enough to let them in.

Slamming the door shut, he spun the lock on the handle and slid down the door frame to sit on the floor.

"I HATE paparazzi..."

"Good news: this particular room is soundproof," Raize said. "Did it myself in case something like this happened."

"Good job..."

"He, Chaud," ProtoMan said. "Guess what?"

"What _now_?" Chaud asked, eyes closing in exasperation.

"Your opponents for tonight? Yeah. I just had them arrested."

Nami frowned. "What for?"

"I went to do a quick background check on them, and what I found was the last remaining members of the ACDC downtown mafia."

Chaud's eyes flew open. "No way."

"Yeah. You are no longer under an obligation to go anywhere _near_ Castillo tonight."

"Thank you, ProtoMan... thanks SO much..."

"Is a background check something you do with _every_ opponent of yours?" Sen asked warily, looking at Chaud.

"No..."

The clock chimed five o'clock a few minutes later. A nurse nervously came in to show them out.

"I've got to go to work," Ailee said seriously, as Raize shook his head and took her by the hand back to the elevator.

"Yeah... but you're working from home, sister dear... you're still sick... I, on the other hand, have no excuse for not being in classes tomorrow..."

"True... but—" Sean sneezed again, "—no matter how hard Ailee works, there's nothing she can do against the hospital or Maether or anybody..." He coughed, miserable. "Injury is no basis for a lawsuit..."

"Yeah... but that's not stopping _her_," Raize said gravely. "Let's get you all home... five hours in room with sick people can't be good for any of us."

Nami showed signs of wanting to stay, but Chaud took her hand and led her along after Raize.

"It'll be fine... Mamoru's going to be okay," Chaud told her again, willing himself to believe it as well.


	48. Hawk Match 3

Chapter Forty-Eight:

Hawk Match 3

"Oy! Johnny! Check this out!"

Caden flagged Johnny down from thirty stories above the ground, swinging around from the fire escape of the high-voltage radio tower.

"What!?" Johnny descended fluidly from the top of the tower, where he had been trying to see the "flying space-rock," which Regal had said _might_ be visible to their heightened senses by now.

"Check it out!" Caden tossed a paper airplane at him.

"What the—?" Catching the airplane, he unfolded it to read a tiny news article about a poor man who had been shot down on his way to work.

"Little H's big bro got the wrong end of a gun," Johnny said appreciatively.

"Kinda sucks though. Working at the hospital AND at the Jomon store..."

"Yeah, well. That's _their_ problem." Johnny pocketed the newsprint, staring up into space. "Ain't _my_ fault they can't pay their bills."

"Seen any meteors yet?" Caden asked.

"Heh, no. I'm gonna KILL Regal," Johnny said simply.

"For no good reason?"

"He's a liar. That's good reason enough, isn't it?"

With a laugh, the two men descended from the tower to wander around the zoo a little.

"So. Little H is in major trouble," Johnny said. "Parents _mysterious_ death. Brother's _mysterious _murder. Brother's _mysterious_ shooting." Johnny ducked behind a tree, sauntering down a dark, hazy path towards their safehouse somewhere in the outskirts of town. "What else can He-Who-Must-Be-Goth really have against them?"

Snickering at the newfound nickname, Caden followed Johnny's voice to the safehouse.

Johnny wrenched open the trapdoor, climbing up into the trees.

"Whoa... you really made some renovations, eh?"

"You know it."

Covering the walls were twenty years worth of newspaper clippings about various murders and mysterious cases of grand larceny.

"Dang."

Caden walked around, reading some of the headlines, a timeline of death and destruction dating exactly twenty years back to the day.

_Sad Valentine's Day for Hallissy Family: Eldest Brother Killed._ Angel's death. Widely publicized as the most brutal and morbid murder in Netopian history.

_Publicist and Local Musician To Take Family Out Of Country._ Following Angel's murder, Mr. and Mrs. Hallissy had decided to flee the country, taking all their children with them, including those that had already moved out.

_Mysterious Death in Prestigious Netopian Limb and Joint Reconstruction Hospital_. Mrs. Hallissy had gone back to Netopia for a necessary surgery on her shattered kneecaps. She had never returned.

_Netopian Ex-Publicist Dead._ Mr. Hallissy had never seen his children again after leaving for what was supposed to be a weeklong trip to the Electopian Center of Commerce to arrange a job opportunity.

"Nice job with the Hallissy brother," Caden said appreciatively, reading into the story about Angel. "Ooh. Firewires. Nice touch."

"Darque's idea," Johnny said absently, pinning up the article from out of his pocket.

"We didn't get the other brother, did we?" Caden asked.

"Heck no. If we did, we wouldn't've left that gash across his neck. That's a BA thing."

"Right... missed that... anyway, what's up with the tournament tomorrow?"

"Little H's friend from kindergarten back to haunt her," Johnny said. "And sugar-coated cotton-candy head with him."

"What is UP with that guy!?" Caden asked. "He's so..."

"Annoying? I know. But beggars can't be choosers."

---

Friday, February 13

7:26 AM

Raize began showing signs of contracting the flu Ailee and Sean had, leaving Nami the sole hale and hearty member of the household.

"You need to get out of there," Chaud said seriously on the walk to school.

"Maybe. But where can I stay?"

"You should stay with me!" Maylu ran up behind them, smiling. "I've been meaning to tell you! Me 'n Yai are having a sleepover tonight! You should join us, seeing as everyone else in your house is sick, and what with Mamoru and all..." She sighed. "I thought this would be perfect to get your mind off of it! What do you say?"

Nami sighed. "I don't see why not... but tomorrow's Valentine's Day... I thought you and Lan were...?"

Maylu giggled. "We'll be done sleeping by then! Besides, he's having his own little sleepover with Dex and Chaud, right?"

Chaud froze in his tracks.

"_**What?**_"

"Oops! I guess he hasn't asked you yet!" Maylu giggled again, completely oblivious to Chaud's shock. "I'll see you at my place after your match-thing, okay, Nami?"

"Sure... bye."

"Later!" Maylu ran off to meet up with Yai.

"Did you...?" Chaud broke off.

"Never."

"But then...?"

"I don't know," Nami sighed, pulling Chaud along behind her.

"What on earth possessed him to think I would _ever_ consent to a sleepover with him and Dex?" Chaud asked, finding his voice as he got over his shock.

"I don't know. Maybe he thinks you're spending too much time with me," Nami suggested.

"If he thought that, he'd have done something about it six months ago like Terry did," Chaud said disdainfully.

Nami rolled her eyes. "Come on. How bad can it be?"

"Thus implying that I'm going."

She looked at him critically. "You know, it might be good for you to remember that there is life outside of work."

"...seriously?"

She laughed, dragging him off to class. "We gotta study hard today... today's the day Atsuki finally gets what he deserves!"

---

3:59 PM

_So... tired..._

Mamoru Hallissy woke up to see a familiar room. A room in the hospital. His hospital.

_What am I doing here?_

The beep of a heart rate monitor. The _whoosh_ing sound of a respirator. And the gentle rustle of sheets. The window was open, the beach breeze was wafting through the room as the vines covering the outside of the building shifted.

_Wha... I have to work! Why I am sleeping!?_

Trying to move, he realized that he couldn't. _What the..._

He also realized that he was in intense pain.

_What happened...?_

A nurse came in.

"Dr. Mamoru! Are you feeling all right?" she asked, closing the window at once.

Mustering all his energy, Mamoru replied, "No..."

The nurse gave a nervous laugh. "I wouldn't expect anything else from someone who'd been shot and beat down..."

"Shot?" Mamoru croaked faintly, his voice raspy.

"Do you remember anything?" she asked, peering down at him.

"A bit... just coming... to work... and then here..."

"Poor dear... someone shot you on your way here," she explained. "And by the looks of it, someone must have really kicked you while you were down... and lots of other things too! It's a lucky thing the receptionist got here when she did, or— what are you doing?"

Mamoru had tried to sit up, his face paling.

"Lay back down, doctor!" she said quickly, gently pushing him back down onto the pillows. "You lost a lot of blood yesterday... you won't be fit for work for a good couple of weeks."

_Weeks... but we have to get the money out today..._

"Relax. Your family will be fine without you for a while..."

_No... they won't... Ailee and Raize don't make enough on their own... Sean would have to work double time to even pay rent... not to mention schoolwork... and Nami... NAMI!_

Mamoru tried again to rise, only to be confined to the bed again.

"My sister... I need to talk to Nami..."

"She'll be at Castillo by now," the nurse said predictably. "At the tournament."

"She can't... something bad..."

Memories of the shooting came flooding back as he remembered exactly why Nami should not go to that castle.

"She has to... leave... right now... get her out of there!" he begged the nurse. "She'll get hurt... her and Chaud... that Atsuki kid... and Johnny Thirteen..."

She smiled sadly, backing out of the room to the doctors. Even from behind the closed door, he heard her tell the doctors waiting outside that he was delusional.

_I don't care if I'm delusional, I need to see Nami!_

---

Meanwhile

Atsuki ran for his life.

"COWARD!" Nami was shouting at him, chasing him down. He knew he was faster than she was, but neither of them could possibly keep running forever.

"Coward or not, at least I ain't desperate enough to date a police creep!" Atsuki yelled back, taking a hairpin turn and setting her on fire as he passed her.

"I'M the desperate one!?" Nami snapped, dousing herself and losing ground. "Why is it that whenever we run into each other, you just HAVE to point out the fact that you're doing so well in life because you ditched your family and I'm doing middle-of-the-road work having stuck with mine!?"

"And how is that MY fault?!"

Nami sprinted forward, crossing paths with Chaud.

_This isn't a battle anymore... this is a full-on WAR..._

"I don't know how you can stand to look at yourself!" Nami hollered, catching up. "How could you have left your parents behind like that!? They loved you!"

"They never loved me like _your_ parents loved _you_!"

Nami almost stopped dead in shock.

"So that's what this has been about. You've been jealous of my family, so you abandoned your family in that fire and just set out after mine!?"

Atsuki, halfway across the field, shrugged. "Pretty much. Can't blame me, can ya?"

"I CAN!"

Nami launched an attack on him; Atsuki dodged, letting the attack hit Viddy.

"GIRL, I AM TIRED OF YOUR IMPUDENCE!" he shrieked at her, loosing video tape at her and leaving Chaud to deal with Atsuki.

"What do you have against me, anyway?" Chaud asked, more curious than threatening as he ducked to avoid fireballs thrown at his head.

"What makes you so special?" Atsuki snapped, still chucking molten snowballs. "Just because you have a rich father and you're the best there is in the cop world— just because you started out better than the rest of us—"

"This isn't about me!" Chaud snapped, pinning Atsuki against the wall with his sword. "When has this EVER been about me?!"

"It's ALWAYS about you!" Atsuki snapped, kicking Chaud away from him and dashing off. "You're always getting all sorts of credit, and all these awards and stories and stuff! And not once, NEVER do you let someone else take credit! You're just like my parents!"

"Do you really think I want all this attention!?" Chaud snapped. "Where have I ever asked for all the credit and accomplishment?!"

"Don't you read the paper!?"

"Why would I do a stupid thing like that if all they print is lies?!"

"If _all_ they print is lies, then am I to assume that you are indeed a female?"

It was as if the world had stopped. Viddy ceased his barrage on Nami, frozen by pure shock of Atsuki statement.

"Atsuki, be violent, but be _polite_ about it!" Viddy snapped at him, outraged. Atsuki didn't budge, standing with his arms crossed, glaring at Chaud.

It took Chaud a moment to recover from this very low blow.

"How dare you say a thing like that."

"Then I'm right!" Atsuki laughed.

Before he could take another step, Atsuki was up against the wall again.

"It's not true. But if it were... I would still be more of a man than you'll ever be, and more of a woman that you'll ever get."

Viddy looked as though he were in a state of moral peril, comparing nothing to the look on Atsuki's face.

The momentary lapse in the concentration of the other team gave Chaud and Nami the perfect time to strike them down at exactly the same moment.

Even over the roaring crowd, Chaud could still hear some people laughing.

_I CANNOT believe I just did that..._

Nami walked over to him, brushing soot off her shoulders.

"Was it just my imagination, or did he...?"

Chaud nodded wryly, eyes closed.

She half-smiled. "I can't believe... out of _you_..."

"Neither can I," Chaud said honestly. "What we do for love, right?"

Nami's face burst into a grin, hugging him tightly. "Exactly right..."

At the other end of the field, Viddy and Atsuki were arguing ceaselessly, audible even over the shuffle of footsteps as people left the hall.

"You should NEVER insult—"

"Look, mister, I don't care if—"

"That was SO bad for a public image!"

"Do I CARE?!"

Nami and Chaud laughed, watching them exit the hall. "Take THAT, Atsuki!"


	49. Secrets

Chapter Forty-Nine:

Secrets

The lights flicked off.

_Not AGAIN... I swear, I am going to KILL someone if it's Joh—_

The lights came back on, this time illuminating the one and only Patch Twelve on the center stage.

"Evenin'."

The dimensional area had not gone down, and Chaud was set to fight. Nami spread her stars in her hand, ready as well.

"What do YOU want?" she demanded.

"What? Can't I just stop and say hi?"

Patch walked slowly around the stage, no one daring to make a move.

"Funny. I couldn't help but notice your odd performance the other day, Miss Nami."

Nami glared at him. "What do you mean?"

Patch let out a laugh. "I have to say, I'm rather impressed. Your... immunity to DarkChips."

What little of the crowd remained gasped. Had such a thing really been done?

"If you've used a DarkChip in the past fifteen minutes, then your team should be disqualified," Patch informed them.

"I haven't," Nami said, laying an equal amount of stress on each syllable.

"Oh really? But how would we know, if you're immune?"

The few stragglers began to murmur, some rushing out to tell their friends. Patch had a point, all wrongdoing aside.

"You should know better than anyone," Nami snapped. "I would turn black."

"Little girl knows her stuff, you continue to amaze me. But I have something for you, my dear..."

He snapped his fingers, and as he did, the dimensional area came down, as did their chances of defending themselves.

"That is a _very_ lovely necklace."

Nami's hand flew subconsciously to the two charms at her throat, the crystal snowflake and the silver N.

"That N... It's made of a rare metal... isn't it?"

"It's silver..."

"No, it isn't. I'd recognize that anywhere," Patch said slyly. "Where did you get it? Family heirloom?"

"You could say that," Nami said, not letting her guard down.

"I think not."

In a flash, Patch had Nami suspending off the ground ten yards from where she had been standing, holding the collar of her shirt.

"What does the N stand for?" he asked in a menacing whisper.

"N-Nami," she choked.

"You're lying to me. I don't appreciate that." Patch threw her to the ground, crouching beside her to keep her still. "I will not ask you again. What does that N stand for?"

"It stands for my name!" Nami snapped, trying to get up.

Patch tore the black ribbon from her neck, kicking her aside.

"You, Namirra Hallissy, are a liar. And I don't like being lied to."

Patch held the charm up to the light, the burned N blazing in the spotlights.

"Interesting. How you all have the same initial."

"NO!" Nami shouted, leaping to her feet.

"Namirra... is a fascinating name. I wonder who named you."

"My parents did!"

"I have said it before, and I'll say it again... You. Are. A. Liar. Your parents did not name you, for your parents were long dead before that."

Chaud looked between them, the girl he knew and the man he didn't. What was going on?

"Nami... what—"

"My parents died last year," Nami said, her voice dark and panicked.

Patch heaved a great sigh. "Funny. Denial is funny for a while... but now it's really getting on my nerves."

"I'm not in denial!"

"Yes you are. Either that or you've been brainwashed."

Nami sank to her knees as though powerless.

"Namirra begins with an N... as does New Beginnings Orphanage where you grew up, located in the Netopian capital."

Tears welled up in her eyes as she shook her head. "I'm not an orphan!"

"Oh, no. Not anymore. But you _were_. And you never knew why."

"SHUT UP!" Nami shouted, tears streaming down her cheeks.

"Namirra, New Beginnings, and... the last of the trio..."

"NO!"

"Nebula."

The importance of the name clearly meant something... but Chaud and the rest of those watching did not know what it was.

"And THAT is what this charm is, isn't it?"

"That necklace was given to me by my mother!" Nami shouted.

"Yet you claim it is an heirloom? Your true mother's name did not begin, end, or contain the letter N. Nor did your father's, or any of their relatives."

"What do YOU know about MY family!?" Nami barked.

"Plenty. All is not always as it seems with you... orphaned as an infant, and found close to dead at three outside the orphanage, adopted at five, and ever since then you've been living in the belief that you are a Hallissy..."

"I AM!"

Patch laughed again, toying with the charm on the end of a wire he had produced from a pocket somewhere.

"Denial. There are four _more_ stages of grief, you know. You would do well to move on."

"I'm NOT grieving for ANYONE!" Nami bounded across the stadium at him, attempting to wrest the charm from him.

"Okay. Anger. Still three left," Patch said, keeping her at bay with his free arm.

"Give me back my charm," Nami hissed, the other three participants in the previous battle still completely stupefied.

"Bargaining."

"KNOCK IT OFF!"

Patch shook his head, twisting a piece of metal around and distending the charm. "Aaaaand we're back to anger. PLEASE be quiet."

"I WILL NOT BE QUIET! GIVE ME BACK MY CHARM!"

"Oh, but it's not yours," Patch said, tossing the wire away over his left shoulder. "Now... it's _mine_."

Patch knocked her off of him, throwing the charm in her direction. Instead of rebounding off her skin, it seemed to pass straight through her throat and become lodged in her windpipe.

Her eyes slid out of focus, collapsing to the ground, out cold.

"And... my work here is done."

Patch vanished as the remaining crowd hurried out of the door, clearly worried for their own families.

"NAMI!"

"What's going on?!" ProtoMan asked. Upon seeing Nami on the ground, barely breathing, he rushed of somewhere.

"No!" Kneeling down beside her, Chaud tried to see a cut or gash, some way the piece of metal could have gone through her. Nothing.

"What's happening?" ProtoMan reappeared, accompanied by Akiron, who looked worried. "Oh no. It's in her respiratory, isn't it?"

"That's breathing... yeah... what can I do?" Chaud asked in a panic.

"Nothing, now..."

Even as Akiron spoke, a black color was spreading from her throat to the rest of her, like food coloring in a glass of water, just as she had said were the effects of DarkChips. A poison engulfing her body, bit by bit.

"What Patch just did is make an impromptu DarkChip," Akiron explained. "I have NO idea how he made it work, or why it's working on her, but... nonetheless. That chip is fueled by oxygen," he went on. "As long as she's alive, she'll be breathing... and so as that oxygen she breathes in is spread to the rest of her body, whatever that chip does will get control of her... once it's completely circulated there's nothing we can do but wait..."

"Wait?!" Chaud asked, shocked. "For what!?"

"I've seen this before... it won't last forever," Akiron assured him. "It'll last a while though... it's a good thing this place open-air..."

"Why?"

"That'll keep giving her fresh air, and the chip will tire out quicker," Akiron explained. "So it won't be twenty-four hours... only about..."

"Thirteen."

Johnny Thirteen appeared on the spot, looking down at his fallen prey. "Fascinating how that works out."

"YOU!" Chaud leapt to his feet, frenetically glancing around the room for something, anything to defend himself with, helpless.

"Chill. I'm not hurting anyone today, so don't bother calling the fuzz," Johnny said. Even as he said it, his form blurred. A hologram. "Relax. If you've got anyone to be afraid of, it's _her_."

Nami no longer resembled a proper human being, but instead a Nami-shaped piece of the starry night sky. She had turned completely dark, and as Chaud backed away and Johnny grinned, she rose to her feet.

"Patch, I'm swept away," Johnny admitted. "You've always been the shy one, but now here you are turning innocent girls into WMDs."

"What can I say? I took a leaf outta your book. Besides, it's not _that_ powerful," Patch said modestly, appearing beside him. "Besides... this was designed for the other one, not her. Too bad they don't have the same genetic code, or it would've."

"They're close enough, eh? Leave before she gets her mind back."

Patch nodded, vanishing again and leaving a speechless Chaud alone with Nami and Johnny.

"Ah, science. How I love thee," Johnny laughed. "This will be the best yet... so long as that chip is stuck in her pipes there's nothing gonna stop her!"

He vanished as well, leaving Nami to wreak havoc on her own.

"No... there HAS to be a way..." But there was no one to help him, no one to come to his rescue and explain everything...

"OY! CLEAR OUT!"

The most unlikely savior leapt down from the rooftops, providing a barrier between a very destructive and out-of-her-mind Nami and himself.

"Rage..."

Whatever was possessing Nami seemed to recognize Rage as well. She charged towards him, leaping up much too high and landing far too softly.

"WHAT'D I SAY!? CLEAR OUT!" Rage shouted, facing off against Nami.

"I won't leave her!"

"She's not _her_ anymore!"

"I don't care!"

Nami and Rage were locked in fierce combat unlike anything Chaud had ever seen from any of the Alliance gang. He would have never thought limbs could move so fast, that blows and thrusts could land so accurately.

"Chaud, we should leave and get backup," ProtoMan said seriously. "If whatever's got control of Nami is as dangerous as Johnny claims... then we'll need it."

Chaud did not move. "No... I think... no..."

ProtoMan sighed. "I know this is hard to come to terms to, but... think about it. The Alliance is capable of creating some pretty deadly materials, and Patch is at the center of the manufacturing. If anyone can engineer to kill, it'll be him. No human being has ever had a DarkChip tested on them, much less used on them like this. Face it... she might not make it out alive."

Still he did not move, his eyes tracking the battling forces working across the field. It was as he had feared.

Nami was winning.

---

"Where in the name of illegality is Rage!?" Darque blustered, just outside the beach hospital. He had not been able to travel far, he was keeping an eye on "that Hallissy doc" while the rest were gone.

Caden came running towards him, breathless. "THAT BACKSTABBING TRAITOR!"

Immediately worried, Darque looked over at him. "What's going on?"

"Rage is fighting with little H!"

Darque swore under his breath. What was Rage trying to pull? The on-the-spot DarkChip had been their greatest plan yet. If Rage screwed this up, they might all end up in jail.

"That no-good, cowardly, son of a..." Darque kicked over a trash can, relinquishing its contents to the street.

"Look, I get that he knows her and I get that she's his sister," Caden said, "but this! THIS!"

"You have to go and get him out of there," Darque said. "I can't leave, and no one else knows we're pulling this tonight."

"We thought it was supposed to happen yesterday!" Caden snapped.

"I KNOW! Things got complicated, and so this had to happen today!" Darque retorted. "Look, just go and get him out of there, and if we get in trouble for doing our jobs, so be it. As long as we don't end up in stripes."

"I'll do my best."

---

_I can't keep this up forever..._

Raize was in a state of inner conflict, his criminal self fighting against his sister to save her... in front of the local cop favorite.

_She's not tiring out... Patch has really gotten better at this... but why her!?_

He looked down, seeing a red vest. Chaud had not moved.

_I told him to leave! Why is he still here?!_

Nami landed a barrage of blows on the back of his neck, knocking him down to the ground fifty feet below.

_Gotta think... what did Mo say? The thing's in her throat, so..._

"RAGE!" He heard Caden's voice as though she were right next to him. "GET OUT OF THERE!"

"Stay out of this, Caden!" he shouted, all regard for rules gone.

"She'll be fine, just leave her—"

"NO!" He hit the ground, fallen on his back, in pain and confusion.

Nami was falling after him, ready to finish him off and undoubtedly land herself in jail for something she could not control.

_I CAN'T LET THIS HAPPEN!_

Raize used the last of his energy to leap back into the air, and deliver a harsh kick to Nami's stomach, knocking the wind out of her.

The chip dislodged, and exited her body in the same fashion it had entered: no wound or cut, but inexplicably passing through her skin. She returned to her normal color, although her face was pallid and drawn. He landed on the ground, catching her in his arms as she fell, still unconscious.

_Nami..._

---

"Rage..."

Chaud stared across the empty field at him, this man who was neither friend nor enemy, yet was on the enemy lines.

"Relax... I won't hurt her," Rage said. He did not seem to want to move too close, clearly afraid for his own safety.

"But... why did you...?"

Rage set Nami gently on the ground, turning away from him. "An innocent girl shouldn't have to suffer for the mistakes of an older man."

Without further word, he vanished.

---

Mamoru lay awake in the hospital, waiting. _Please, God... let her be okay... let them mess up... let her be all right... don't make her suffer..._

His every fear was confirmed as he heard a stretcher rolling past, his colleagues talking in hushed voices; they must have thought him asleep.

"... never would've guessed," one of the doctors that he recognized as an intern, Dr. Wilson. "We oughta get SciLab over here and check her out as well..."

"Don't think we should," another doctor, Dr. Caprice, said. "She should be fine... it just depends on whether or not she wakes up. There's no trauma or anything, is there?"

"The Blaze kid said that Rage character really did a number on her," Wilson relayed. "A nice sharp kick in the gut."

"Well... we'll have to check that out, then..."

The voices faded away.

_NO! I told that nurse I needed to stop her! I told her..._

---

Nightfall

February 13

"HOW DARE YOU!?" Johnny shouted at Raize. The entire gang had gathered inside a vacant hospital room, all to chew out Raize for playing the hero.

"Why did you have to assault _her_, of all the people in this godforsaken town!?" Raize demanded, fully aware that the whole Alliance was breathing down his neck for what he'd done. It didn't matter if they ousted him from their stupid little clique, at least his sister was safe and he'd done the right thing.

"You know full well!" Johnny snapped. "She's got the immunity that no one besides us has! And we can't bloody well do it ourselves unless we were human!"

"Then you could have used me!" Raize barked back.

"You're about as human as the rest of us are," Caden pointed out. "_Please_. You've known that for _years_."

"That doesn't mean I don't have a heart," Raize countered. "And that's what you wanted, wasn't it?! Her heart!?"

"Hearts are for loving, not killing!" Johnny shouted. "If we need anything out of her, it would be that brain of hers, and we can't have that now or ever, thanks to you!"

"Just stay away from my sister," Raize said dangerously.

"Look. I know it's not your fault you got into this," Darque said quietly. "But you knew that even before you got into a family. That was YOUR choice. And this is the consequence."

"I don't care. You've got two of my family in the hospital, and I won't let you put any more of us in there."

---

Daybreak

February 14

Chaud was still in the hospital room with Nami. He had demanded that the nurses let him stay, and, fearing for their jobs should they refuse, they had let him. The news that she would be all right was to be expected, but... he had hoped that they would have the chance to spend a _conscious_ Valentine's Day together, for clearly nothing else could be achieved in so short a time.

Instead, he had sat beside her bed, nourishing the vague hope that should would wake up fifteen days earlier than the doctors expected her to.

"Nami..." He brushed a lock of her hair out of her eyes, bruises coming into view. Rage had shown no mercy in attempting to dislodge the chip.

"Morning, Chaud." Sen appeared on the screen next to Nami's bed. "She still out?"

He nodded.

"Well... there's no good in you just sitting here," she pointed out. "You could be out there looking for Johnny."

"I could..."

Sen sighed. "You're not going anywhere, are you?"

Chaud shook his head.

"I thought so... then Nami would want you to hear something," Sen said, opening a track window. A beautiful song began to play as the word "Valentine" crossed the computer screen. "She chose this song for you... y'know, for Valentine's Day..."

Chaud didn't respond, he was listening to the words of the song as though they were her words speaking right to his heart.

_If there were no words  
No way to speak  
I would still hear you  
If there were no tears  
No way to feel inside  
I'd still feel for you  
_

_And even if the sun refused to shine  
Even if romance ran out of rhyme  
You would still have my heart  
Until the end of time  
You're all I need my love,_

_My valentine_

And even if the sun refused to shine  
Even if romance ran out of rhyme  
You would still have my heart  
Until the end of time  
Cuz all I need  
Is you, my valentine

_My valentine._

Tears filled his eyes as the song ended, it was just like Nami to find something like this. Something that would touch him deeply. It only hurt more now that he couldn't share it with her for another two weeks.

He turned away from Sen, who was tactful enough to busy herself with closing the track window.

"She loves you... and she wouldn't want you to just wait here in vain," Sen said comfortingly once he had regained his composure.

"Yeah... you're right..." Standing up at last, he looked down at her. As if on impulse, he bent down close to her and whispered in her ear, "I love you, Nami."

Before a doctor could come and chivvy him out, he left, hoping his father would still be asleep.

((A/N: The song is, in fact, called "Valentine" and is composed by Jim Brickman and Jack Kugell. I believe Martina McBride has performed it. It's truly a touching song, even without the melody attached.))


	50. The Crossroads

Chapter Fifty:

The Crossroads

March 15

The media had finally settled down. As was to be expected from the Den Tech City Times, they had been catapulted into a frenzy over this last horrifying event.

Mamoru had been discharged from the hospital three days prior, with a general recovery, a deep, lasting scar across his neck, and permanent nerve damage to his left leg, which would force him to rely a cane for the rest of his life. That, however, wasn't stopping him from working double overtime to cover the costs.

Nami, on the other hand, was still in the hospital, stable but with a vague outcome in sight, leaving her family and Chaud to hope for some miracle. The doctors were doing all they could even to keep her stable, and had postponed testing innumerable times. SciLab had come in and examined evidence from the Castillo field and Nami's injury reports, leaving them completely baffled. The scientists were no closer to working out the mystery of Patch's deadly DarkChip that they were to re-inducting Pluto into the solar system.

Like they had the time, anyway.

Chaud had finished school for the day, and by now had given up on bringing Nami's homework with him. It didn't look like she'd be able to finish in time for finals at this rate. He was on the way to the hospital as he often was nowadays, to spend his time in the hospital room with Nami. If she could hear him, he was sure she was glad of the company. And if she couldn't, it still made him feel a bit better.

He spent an hour in her room, doing his homework and talking himself through it, hoping that perhaps Nami would pick it up by the time she woke up.

Finally, he gave up. "Nami... please get better..."

As he left, he crossed paths with Mamoru, on a rare break from working the floor of the hospital.

"Hello, Chaud."

"Hi... you still feeling okay?" Chaud asked.

"Yeah. My leg hurts, but that's not gonna change anytime soon," Mamoru sighed. "Thanks, though."

Chaud smiled as Mamoru entered the hospital room and Chaud got into the descending elevator.

He was down on the ground floor and halfway across the lobby before ProtoMan spoke up.

"Chaud, your math book's still in Nami's room," ProtoMan said.

With a sigh, Chaud turned around and headed back towards the elevator.

Coming up to the door, he was about to turn the handle and go in when he heard Mamoru's voice.

"Nami... I know you might not be able to hear me... but if you can... I should tell you. I'm so sorry about what happened... how things turned out..."

Torn between the fact that he probably shouldn't be listening to this and the threat of detention hanging over his head for not having his math book, Chaud waited at the door, hoping that Mamoru would at least see the book and put it outside the door for him...

---

Mamoru stood, leaning on his cane for support, gazing down at his sister. "Nami... if you don't make it out of this... I'll never forgive myself... please, Nami... I've said it before and I'll say it again. This family needs you.

"It's my fault that this happened to you," Mamoru said, sitting down in the vacant chair beside her and propping his cane up against the side of the bed. "I know it doesn't seem like it... but it is. If you could see me now... you'd know about the scar I've got. And after knowing what that Patch did to you... it makes more sense."

He looked at his sister, brow furrowed. "They meant that chip for me. I don't know how they planned to pull that one off, but that was their plan... it shouldn't be you in this bed. It should be me."

He turned his eyes towards the ceiling, seeing the many spots he had memorized during his own stay.

"I know what Patch said to you... about the adoption, and the necklace... and I'm sorry I never told you about that, either. I just wanted you to be happy... once Mom and Dad... Mr. and Mrs. Hallissy... were gone, that was the best I could do... just tell you to keep it safe... I know you did your best..."

Mamoru closed his eyes and breathed deeply. "And... I've made a lot of mistakes, Nami. And a lot of those mistakes led up to this. But you know... the whole reason we came here was for you.

"Mom and Dad... _our_ Mom and Dad, at least... they wanted to keep you safe... you know, they were after Angel, not you... once they had a shot at Mom and Dad, they took it, and... well..." Mamoru shrugged his shoulders, shaking his head. "Here we are. In and out of the hospital, and constantly having to work overtime just to pay rent.

"But... there are some things I never told you... and I think... I think you ought to know."

Mamoru clasped his hands together, as though praying for her forgiveness.

"I never meant this kind of thing to happen... That fight Ailee and I had on Christmas... Ailee was right to say that they would come back to haunt you. I should have listened to her... that was my mistake. We should have shipped up and left, but I couldn't stand to think of what I would have to say to you and Chaud if we left for God knows where.

"But... I knew even when we first brought you into the family that there was something different about you. We all did. Mom and Dad had gone to New Beginnings to find a child that no one else would take, and that child was you. No one seemed to want you because you were so... so _needy_," Mamoru admitted with a bit of a laugh. "I guess before they found you there was something wrong with your life... maybe your real mother was abusive or neglectful... I don't know what happened, and you were too young to remember... But ever since you were four, you wanted to be loved. And that was why no one wanted you, Nami... not because you were an orphan, but because you were having a hard time coming to terms with the fact that you _were_ an orphan."

Tears came to Mamoru's eyes as he went on, "And I know it's still hard for you... but I thought you'd told him... I thought you'd told Chaud... but now I see I was wrong. I know I told you that we have to stick together as a family... and that's what we are.

"We're a family, Nami. I don't care what some guy says about your past, or whatever. He can't have this kind of control over you. He doesn't deserve that control, and he'll only have it as long as you let him.

"Nami, I may be the wise one, and Ailee may be the one with the loopholes, and Raize may have strength, and Sean may have the smarts, but you've got the heart. And you know you do. If it wasn't for you the rest of us would have separated a long time ago..."

Mamoru took a deep, steadying breath. "Nami... this has all gone wrong... and I know it's my fault. I know it is... and I can't live like this. Why do you think I work so hard? I work so I can have a chance to fix this... and so that you won't have to work as hard as I have.

"Sean told us about your plans for college... or lack thereof," he added. "Nami, you remember what Raoul always told you at the store? 'Get an _edjamacation_, and you won't end up like me.' " Mamoru laughed a little at the memory. "And I know you always wanted to work in his shop, but there's only so much that would get you in life... and you know I want you to have it all. Everyone in this family has worked harder than most to get by, and I'm grateful that you had the chance to learn the value of hard work.

"And saying all this... and knowing you might not make it out..."

Mamoru hastily brushed away tears that had spilled down his cheeks. "I realize now... now more than ever. You don't... have to pull through."

Chaud, still outside the door, had thought he'd misheard. _What's he talking about?..._

"I know... this must be hard on you, mentally and physically," Mamoru admitted, speaking through his tears. "Honestly I don't know how you keep going through all this... there's the crossroads you're at, between staying here and letting go. And I know you don't want to let us down, and that it would strike a huge blow to us, but... I know it might be easier to... to just let go..."

_NO!_

"I'll never forgive myself if you don't wake up... but I'll never forgive myself either if you make it through and end up back here again and again..."

Mamoru's voice trailed off, he momentarily sat in teary-eyed silence with his sister.

"You're my baby sister... and you always will be. And I love you, I want the best for you and Ailee and Sean and Raize... you know I do...

"For once in my life, I don't know what to do. I don't know how to help you, I don't know how we, as a family, can work our way through this and remain in one piece... I don't know what to say, why this keeps happening to us, and I don't know who to go to... and I don't know when this will all get better."

Outside the door, Chaud's initial shock of hearing Mamoru's statement was finally beginning to give way to blind terror. What if Nami _did_ let go? What would happen to him? To the family? Would anything make sense anymore? Very little did at this very moment, one could only imagine... what would happen to his already hazy and clouded mind if Nami left them?

"All I can promise is..."

---

_Where am I _now

Soft wind blew. An oddly peaceful sense.

_I'm dreaming again, aren't I?_

He was standing on a dirt road that split off in two directions. There was no street sign, just a view of what was to come.

_Wait a moment... I remember this place. With... Mother..._

Looking forward, he saw the meadow he remembered from years back, when he was still a small boy. When Mother was still alive.

And a sound from behind him turned him around in surprise.

"And how _are_ you, Chaud?" It was the fortune teller from his dreams before, standing before what looked like a dark, old fashioned schoolroom. In the schoolroom were a handful of desks, a teacher's desk piled with papers, and a small blackboard.

"YOU!"

"I know, I know," the old woman sighed dismissively. "Preface of disaster. At least you _get_ a warning. Lots of people don't."

Chaud frowned. "Why are you here? Why do you keep showing up in my life?"

"In your _dreams_," she corrected hastily. "Listen to me. What I am about to show you—"

"I don't want to see any more of your crazy little visions!" Chaud shouted. "They don't even make sense, and—"

"Forget that," she hissed at him. "That was to get your attention to this danger. Since obviously you haven't comprehended it, I'll have to take you to the other end of the scale."

"What are you TALKING about?" Chaud demanded. "Look, just—"

"This meadow, your mother used to take you here, didn't she?" the old woman asked, her sense of urgency growing with each word.

"Yeah. So what?"

"And this place behind us. Do you recognize it?"

"Of course not."

"Good. Because this is what I need to show you."

The old woman grabbed Chaud's arm, dragging him into the room.

"Keep in mind... this is fourteen years ago."

They faded out of sight as a small group of young men who appeared to be about college aged came into the room. Each bore a school uniform of some sort, but unlike anything Chaud had ever seen. A long black shirt, black pants, and a short sleeved, floor length cloak. Every boy had a distinctive face, their own story to tell. This might be some sort of a boarding school... but something didn't quite make sense. Although all the boys were the same age, some of them looked vaguely recognizable. Although each member of the gang had black hair and the rare genetic anomaly of blue and green mismatched eyes, Chaud could have sworn that Raize was in the mix, as was what appeared to be younger versions of Raoul and— of all people— Mamoru. Had they all attended private school? And even if they had, how was it possible that they were all the same age if there was a good two or three years' difference between Raoul and Mamoru, and between Mamoru and Raize?

"What do you think 's gonna happen now?" one of the boys asked the rest.

"Knowing the Doctor, something's gonna explode," someone answered.

"Count them," the old woman's voice said to Chaud.

_One... two..._ As the boys sat down, the process became easier. "Twelve."

"Remember that," the fortune teller commanded.

The unmistakable figure of Dr. Wily entered the room.

"What's Wily doing here?!" Chaud asked, shocked.

"Teaching. Hush."

Wily looked out at the students, laughing. "Twelve in number. All present for a change."

"Where's Dr. Regal?" one of the boys asked.

"Why Twelve, you should know," Wily sighed. "He's busy creating a brother."

The boys laughed. "Looks like twelve will soon become thirteen," they jeered.

"Your days are numbered," one of the boys told Twelve.

_Wait a minute... Twelve? Is this... the early days of the Alliance?_

"Or over," Wily noted. "Alliance, I know it is late in the semester, and late in the year, but your new comrade has, I believe, arrived."

A shadow outside the door appeared, the sound of knocking on wood filling the room.

Wily opened the door, and there stood the new student. Longish blond hair framed his gaunt, angular face, nearly hiding his cloudy gray eyes. One look at him suggested that he had been quite handsome once, but some sort of rapid change had taken place that drained the life from his body. He was a considerable sight smaller than some of the boys, and looked very weak, perhaps a consequence of whatever Wily had subjected him to. He walked into the room and took an open desk in the front row.

"Everyone, this is the new member. Patch, your days as leader are over."

_Patch?_

"This is Johnny, number Thirteen. Already, he is a skilled navigator and tactician."

"Perfect for a leader," the boy resembling Raize said. "A sight better than demolition."

Patch scowled. "Don't pretend you didn't like blowing things up."

"So... I'm the leader now?" Johnny asked, the voice unmistakable.

"Once you're all successfully trained, yes. These boys have been training ever since their indictment."

"Don't you mean induction?" Johnny asked.

The room rang with laughter.

_So Johnny's the new kid on the block... and he has been for years._

"Please. We all know the rules. Thirteen years from now, we'll all be dead," Patch said. "Unless something happens and..."

The room faded from sight, taking the occupants along with it.

"What on earth was THAT?" Chaud asked.

"That was the training facility used by the Alliance fourteen years ago," the fortune teller said as she and Chaud came back into sight. "An innocent guise for an evil undertaking."

"So that WAS the Alliance."

"The Alliance before its heyday," the fortune teller confirmed. "The building still stands today as an old, condemned schoolhouse. But no one's torn it down yet. The people in the town with the schoolhouse believe it's haunted, although no one dares to go inside and find out who haunts it."

"But... no one haunts it..."

"_Au contraire_. The Alliance have been seen there before, and there have been mysterious shadows in the windows before."

"Shadows? There really is a ghost?"

"No. It's only Nebula."

"Nebula... what's this Nebula?" Chaud asked.

"Nebula is your next Official headache," the old woman explained. "They're a crime syndicate worse than World Three. It's run by Wily's son, Regal."

"Didn't Regal create the Alliance?"

"That he did. And when Johnny took over the Alliance, they broke off from him, even though they knew that Regal could kill them all in an instant."

"And didn't Patch say—"

"Thirteen years was the time limit. _Was_. Plans change. And so did Regal. He couldn't stand to see his creation being so successful without him. That is how the Black Assassin came into being."

"The Black Assassin is a fake!?"

"When did I say THAT?!" the fortune teller asked. "The Black Assassin is essentially the same as Johnny Thirteen and the gang, only more obedient and consequently weaker."

"I see..."

"Liar."

The fortune teller looked him right in the eye and asked, "How would you like it if I could fix it all?"

"Fix what all?"

"Make it so that Johnny Thirteen and the Alliance never existed, that the Black Assassin was never created, that Nami was never hurt, that her family was never separated, that your mother was not deceased. That everything was right."

Chaud stared in shock. "That... you can do that?"

"Of course."

"There's a catch, isn't there?" Chaud asked suspiciously. "There's something changed about the way the world works."

"Well, if that was it, why would I TELL you?"

Chaud sighed in exasperation, remembering more and more why he had hated this old woman so vehemently in the past.

"How would you like to see this world?"

Hesitating for a moment, Chaud nodded.

As soon as he did, the world around him began to change. The meadow came back, and just beyond it lay Den Tech City. Something possessed him to walk towards it.

Almost immediately, the city burst into life. People appeared on the streets, talking amongst themselves, going about their lives.

"Why not go home?" the fortune teller asked. "House 292."

Chaud walked home, and found that it had changed. Insignificant though they were, the changes were enough to tell him that the most wonderful thing had happened.

Bursting through the door, Chaud called out, "_Mother!_"

"I'm in here, sweetie!" came his mother's sweet voice from the kitchen. "Your father's upstairs still getting—"

Chaud rushed into the kitchen, unable to believe his eyes. His mother looked just the same as she had when he was a child. Not a hair out of place, hadn't aged a day, his mother stood over the sink, washing grapes.

_Mother..._

He ran up to her and hugged her tightly. "Mother..."

"Is everything all right, Chaud?" she asked, folding her arms around him. "You look a little tired... maybe you shouldn't go out with your father tonight."

"Go out?"

"Have you forgotten already?" she asked, laughing. "He promised to take you out of work tonight and to see that play at the high school. You've finished all your homework, haven't you?"

"Yeah..."

"Hana!" came a voice from upstairs. "Where's–"

"Try the landing, dear," Mrs. Blaze said knowingly.

A pause, then "Thank you, dear!"

Chaud smiled. _I can't believe it... my dad... sounds happy. And my mom... she's here! And she's well and... she's here..._

"Why don't you run off and find something to do until the play begins?" his mother suggested, shooing him outside and reminding him not to get mud on his shoes.

A big, blue ball bounced into his path. A little girl in pigtails came to retrieve it.

"Oh! Sorry, Officer Chaud!" The little girl smiled up at him, giggling.

"Yuko!" Chaud smiled, picking up her ball. "How are you feeling?"

"Oh, I'm fine," Yuko said. "But I hear the Hikaris have come down with a touch of that cold that was going around. But Hub and Lan are fine."

"Hub...?"

"You know," Yuko said. "Lan's big brother!"

_Lan's... that's right,_ Chaud thought as Yuko ran off with her ball._ MegaMan was made from his deceased older brother... which means that Lan and Hub are together, too! This place is so peaceful... and everyone has their happy ending._

"Go to house number 137," the fortune teller's voice said in his ear.

Following the street, Chaud saw the house a little distance away.

A family was having a picnic on the front lawn. A mother, a father, and six children.

Nami and Mamoru, Raize and Sean and Ailee. All sitting there, unharmed and well.

"Nami..."

Running towards the family, Chaud stopped dead in his tracks upon identifying the sixth child of Mr. and Mrs. Hallissy.

The spitting image of the Johnny Thirteen he had seen mere moments before sat on the blanket next to Nami, laughing and talking with her.

_What's going on?_

"Angel, why are we even _sending_ you to this school if you aren't teaching?" Mr. Hallissy asked.

"Because," said the one who looked like Johnny, "I'm the best teacher the kids have ever had."

"We're not _kids_," Raize groaned. "He came and lectured at my physics lesson the other day!"

"This... is Angel?" Chaud asked.

"Yes," said the fortune teller. "Surprised, aren't you? Go talk to them."

More than happy to see them well, Chaud walked up to the blanket, bidding Mr. and Mrs. Hallissy a good afternoon. The family looked up at him, seeming a little surprised and puzzled.

"Oh! Good afternoon, officer," Mr. Hallissy's deep voice said. "What brings you here?"

"I... ah..." _What?_

"Forgive the forwardness, but there hasn't been any _rulebreaking_ in the family, has there?" Mrs. Hallissy asked, looking pointedly at Raize.

"Wha—hey! That's not fair! Why do you always think it's me!?"

Nami and Angel laughed, nearly falling over.

"Um... may I speak with you for a moment, Nami?" Chaud asked, slightly confused.

"Certainly, but... how do you know my name?" Nami asked.

And it hit him.

The catch wasn't that something was wrong with the world... it was that Nami no longer knew him.

"I... I've gotten used to seeing you whenever I have to talk to Raize," Chaud covered.

Nami laughed. "That's right. You're here an awful lot because of him. What was it you wanted to ask me?"

"I just... wanted to know if there's anything suspicious around. At school, or..."

"Nothing. You've been doing an excellent job," Nami commended respectfully. "And... if you don't mind me asking, have you seen Terry anywhere?"

The name pierced his heart like nothing he'd yet seen. "Terry? _Galvin_?" he croaked out.

"That's the one," Nami said, nodding. "He was supposed to meet me here fifteen minutes ago, but I haven't—"

"NAMI!" Terry's voice sang out. He was coming running up the street with what appeared to be his dog.

"Terry!" Nami smiled, and turned to Chaud. "I'm sorry, but if there's nothing else I can do for you, I should be getting back to my family."

Chaud stood in utter shock, watching Nami and her happy, wonderful family and her... her...

Boyfriend. Terry Galvin.

All was right with the world... but was it? Everything was absolutely perfect, save this one grave error. Nami was not with him... Nami didn't even know him! How on earth could this be!?

"Still want to stay here?" the fortune teller asked.

"Nami... she's so happy... and my mother... my mother is here too," Chaud said. Once again, he was taken to the crossroads where he had seen the meadow and the schoolroom. On the one side, he saw the Hallissy family picnic. On the other, Nami's hospital room occupied also by an aggrieved Mamoru.

"And?"

"Well... everything seems so... perfect. Everyone has their happy ending..."

"Even you," she said gently, coming into sight before him. "Your mother is alive and well, and your father is the kind and gentle father you never had."

"But... back in... my world... There's pain and suffering, yeah, but... we can get through... we've gotten through before... and Nami..."

The fortune teller shrugged. "Sacrifice is a big part of life."

"Sacrifice?"

She sighed. "You see..." She motioned towards the happy scene of the repaired family, enjoying the sun and waiting for Terry's dog to fetch a stick. "If you sacrifice your love for Nami and let Terry take her, everything in your world will be peaceful. No Alliance, no Nebula, no assassins, nothing. Just contentedness."

"But without Nami... how would I...?"

"How would you what?" the fortune teller asked. "Looking at it, she really isn't that important in your life."

"SHE IS!" Chaud snapped. "I love her!"

"I KNOW that," the fortune teller sighed. "But realistically. Look at it from an objective point of view. She is nothing more than a friend, a love. And the reason you fell in love in your world was because of the suffering you both endured. Your love is more of a badge of courage and teamwork than of true—"

"DON'T SAY THAT!" Chaud took a deep breath, looking back at the hospital room.

"Sacrifice... sacrifice their happiness for your love and your world. Your danger and adrenaline, your assassins and enemies... but with your love you can brave it all."

"I know we can... we've done it before and we'll do it again..."

As he said the words, Nami's eyes opened. Mamoru looked up from his cane, a brilliant smile such as Chaud had never seen blossomed across his pale face.

"So. What will it be?" the woman asked.

She drew the two scenes closer to him.

"Sacrifice your passion for their happiness... or their peace for your love?"

Chaud looked at the awakening Nami in the hospital, and back at the smiling Nami talking with Angel.

_I can't tear her away from her family... she's been through so much... and I want to see her happy... but can Terry and Angel and her parents really make her happy? Or am I just kidding myself?_

_I don't want to choose... but I have to..._

_If I go back, I can have a chance to fix things as they are... I won't be able to fix everything, but I can fix some things..._

_But if I go on, Nami will have her family, and I'll have mine... but I won't have her..._

The image of the bright happy ending shattered as Chaud said, "I want to go back."

The fortune teller nodded, smiling. "Depending on what you do now... you're either very confident or very selfish. Or both."

With that, Chaud walked off in the direction of the hospital room image, as everything suddenly became blurry.

Chaud awoke in his bed at home, utterly confused and disoriented.


	51. The Necklace

Chapter Fifty-One:

The Necklace

"Hey... Chaud... you okay?"

Chaud blinked, looking around. "Wha... what happened?" he asked. Mamoru was standing by his bed, evidently having brought him home.

Mamoru laughed. "You tell me. I left Nami's room and saw you across the hall trying to walk out the window."

Chaud stared at him. "I... what?"

"That's just what I saw. When I got up to you, you just collapsed. So I brought you back home... THAT was fun to explain to your dad."

Chaud winced. "Sorry."

"No, it's fine. But why were you still there?" Mamoru asked. The look in his eye told Chaud that he already knew the answer.

"My... math book."

"How much did you hear?" Mamoru asked knowingly, holding up the math book.

Chaud felt himself turning red. "I heard enough."

Mamoru sighed, setting the book down on the desk. "Well... I suppose I would have had to give you that speech _sometime_."

Chaud smiled, still feeling guilty. "I'm sorry, Mamoru. I didn't WANT to—"

"I know you didn't."

"But I don't think I heard everything," Chaud said, sitting up. "I heard you about to promise something, and then... I guess I passed out."

Mamoru frowned. "I didn't promise anything."

Chaud looked aimlessly around the room. _I must have dreamed more than I thought I did..._

"Chaud... is there something you want to talk about?" Mamoru asked gently.

"I... don't... I mean, I... it's really..."

"Go on."

"I... had this dream."

Chaud went on to explain everything he could possibly remember about the dream. The fortune teller, the two realities, and the earliest days of the Alliance.

"...and I'm glad I came back, but I still feel guilty about... about keeping you all here," Chaud explained.

Mamoru had been listening patiently, and now gazed intently at him. "It was a dream, Chaud. Even if you _had_ chosen the other life, nothing would have happened."

"But... it felt so real..."

"I know it did," Mamoru sighed. "I can relate. But think about it. If you'd gone to the other life, who would be here for Nami and Lan and the rest of us? If you had gone over, nothing would have changed for them, and we'd have lost you here. It was just a dream."

"Yeah... I guess you're right..."

Akiron shouted from Mamoru's PET, "HEY! Can I say something now!?"

"Go ahead."

"Raize sent a message," Akiron said, pulling up a memo from Raize.

Scanning it, Mamoru's face drained of what little color was left.

"What is it?" Chaud asked.

Mamoru looked up at him. "He says it's Nami."

---

Having gotten to the hospital, Mamoru and Chaud dashed as fast as possible (given Mamoru's incapacitated state) to Nami's door.

Through the window they could see Ailee, Sean, and Raize pacing around.

Chaud burst through the door to find that the room, though full of people, felt empty. Upon closer inspection, he saw that Nami's bed was unoccupied.

Mamoru limped in through the open door, and stared at the empty bed.

"Raize... what...?"

Raize looked up at him, some unnamable look in his eyes. "I was wondering when you'd get here."

"He called me here too," Ailee said. "He won't tell me what's going on, and Sean hasn't said a word..."

Obviously fearing the worst, Mamoru looked between Sean and Raize. "What happened here?" he asked firmly.

"Nothing _happened_," Raize said. "Just—"

"RAIZE!" Ailee snapped. "Where is Nami!?"

"She's gone."

A look of total shock flitted across Mamoru's face. "Gone... gone where? Gone _how_, Raize?"

"Just... gone."

Mamoru looked as though he might collapse in the open door. Leaning heavily on his cane, he stared very intently at Raize. "And you're sure...?"

"_Dead_ sure."

Silence fell over the room. Sean looked confused, staring at Raize, who had not changed expression since they had arrived. Ailee silently began to cry as Mamoru sank into a chair opposite the empty bed. _Nami's... gone? Just like that?_

Chaud himself felt light-headed. How could this be happening?

"Wait a minute." Mamoru got back up. "If she was _really_... then... the hospital would have told me. Not _you_."

"The hospital?" Raize asked. "And you think they had the heart to tell you?"

Mamoru looked down, seeing that this was probably true.

"So... she's really... gone?" Chaud asked, finding his voice at last.

Just as the shock began to set in, a small, blanketed figure appeared in the doorway. "What's going on?"

_NAMI!_

It took a moment for the truth to sink in. Nami looked around the room, confused. "Why is everyone here?"

Mamoru, Sean, and Ailee all leapt up and shouted, "RAIZE!"

Raize burst out laughing. "You guys are SO gullible!"

"RAIZE!" Mamoru shouted, sounding both outraged and relieved. "That was NOT funny!"

"But—" Raize received a sharp smack on the leg from Mamoru's cane. "OWCH! What the—"

"Why on EARTH would you want to convince us that she'd DIED?!" Sean demanded.

"Huh?" Nami asked, more confused than ever.

"I never SAID she DIED," Raize said defensively. "I just said she was GONE. And she wasn't here, so technically—"

"RAIZE!!!"

Silently, Chaud got up, gently guided Mamoru, Ailee, Sean, and Raize out into the hall, and shut the door. Turning around, he saw a _very_ confused Nami.

"Do I look dead to you?" she asked, frowning.

He smiled. "No. You don't." Pulling the blanket tighter around her, Chaud hugged her tightly. "I've missed you so much..."

Nami nestled closer to him. "I've missed you too. You'd believe me if I told you, right?"

"Of course I would."

She laughed a little, freeing herself from his arms. Sitting down on the bed, she said, "I heard you. Everything you said, all this time."

Chaud blushed. "Um... everything?"

"Yeah... and Mamoru too."

"Oh..."

She turned her gaze toward the ground. "Chaud, I'm sorry I never told you... all that..."

"About the adoption and...?"

"Yeah." She sighed. "I just... I wanted to be normal."

"Nami... you were NEVER normal," Chaud said seriously. "Why else would we have become friends?"

She looked back up at him. "You... you mean it? It was THAT obvious?"

Chaud nodded. "I don't know why you would ever want to BE normal. It's pretty obvious that you were made to stand out. At least a _little_ bit."

"Yeah... you're right."

He sat down next to her, taking her hand. "But... you're all right now?"

"Mostly. I mean, I can't go _home_ yet... but I'm okay."

"But... you'll be perfectly fine once you _do_ come home?"

Nami sighed. "YES, Chaud."

"Sorry... I just... I want to be sure," Chaud said.

"I know you do... but I felt perfectly fine this whole time," Nami told him. "Except that I had headaches and couldn't wake up... but other than that."

Chaud laughed. "It's just... Nami... there were some times when we thought... when _I_ thought... that you might not make it out. That you really might... just... leave us."

"Chaud..."

"It really made me think..." _...and dream._ "So I just... thought. Life really _is_ short... and I don't want to waste another minute of it before I tell you that I love you."

Nami smiled, tucking her hair behind her ear. "I love you too..."

"I'm so glad you're okay..." He let her rest her head on his shoulder, still holding her hand tightly in his own. "I just... hope that we can..."

"We'll have plenty of time now," Nami promised. "It'll just take a little bit of patience. But next week, once I'm out of here, I promise. It'll all be worth it."

"Nami?"

"Yeah?"

"Do you think... Once you get better, can we go on a picnic?" Chaud asked.

"A... picnic?"

"Sure," Chaud said. "I know this beautiful little meadow where we could— what?"

Nami had been laughing. "S-Sorry!" she said, gradually calming down. "I just... I never imagined YOU going on a picnic ANYWHERE... much less a 'beautiful little meadow' or something like that..."

"So... imagine it now," he suggested. "Because I'd really love to take you there."

"Well... if you insist," she said with a smile. "I think... that'd be a wonderful date."

The door opened again. Raize, Ailee, Sean, and Mamoru poured back in, having resolved their Raize-related issues.

"Nami..." Mamoru limped over to her, hugging her tightly. "I'm so glad... you're looking so much better now... I'm so glad you're all right."

"Yeah... me too."

"And if SOMEONE hadn't tried to scare us out of our MINDS," Ailee added tersely, shooting a glare at Raize, "we might have been able to show you something sooner."

"What's that?"

Mamoru produced a picture from his pocket; it was of a group of people outside what appeared to be a graduation ceremony. This obviously meant nothing to Chaud, but Nami immediately recognized it.

"Is this... Blaire and Gil's high school graduation?" she asked.

"That's them," Sean said. "See? We heard yesterday that Blaire got accepted into University of Choina," he added.

"You know how she's always wanted to study abroad," Ailee said. "This is her chance. And Gil said he'd come visit if he gets the chance before a college accepts him."

Raize laughed. "THAT'LL take long."

"Who are these people?" Chaud asked, looking at the photo over Nami's shoulder. It showed a red-haired girl throwing her graduation cap into the air, while a sleek boy on her left flinched away from her leap of joy, laughing.

"These are two people we know from Netopia," she explained. "Gil Jimenez and Blaire Mandell. They graduated last summer from high school."

"Why didn't they send this sooner?" Sean asked curiously.

Mamoru smiled. "In my experience, Gil hasn't been the most responsible of people, shall we say."

"I see..."

"We'll have to send them a letter or something," Nami said.

"And tell them what?" Raize asked, flopping down on a chair. "That we're seriously regretting moving here?"

"RAIZE!" the entire room minus Chaud shouted.

"Don't say that!" Ailee snapped.

"Moving here was the best thing for all of us," Mamoru said evenly. "And even though it's been hard, nothing easy is worth having. Right?"

"Right!"

Nami smiled, leaning closer to Chaud.

"So... what about that picnic, Chaud?" Nami asked.

"Next week sound all right?" he asked. "Saturday, at one o'clock. I'll come and pick you up, and we'll—"

"Go picnicking?" She grinned. "That sounds perfect."

---

The Next Week

2:47 PM

Nami lay splayed out on the blanket, staring at the clouds. "Isn't it pretty?"

"The clouds?" Chaud asked, sitting down beside her and shielding his eyes from the sun.

"Yeah. And a bunch of other stuff."

"Such as?"

"I dunno. Strawberry?"

Beaming, he took a bowl of the offered fruit. "What's the time?" he asked.

"Um... quarter to three."

Chaud smiled, lying back on the blanket. "That's got to be a record for us. Almost two hours without being interrupted at all."

Nami laughed. "You know, you're probably right, too. Kinda sad, isn't it? That we never really get to have a date."

"Well... we're having one now, aren't we?"

Nami blushed, smiling. "Yes, we are. And I have to admit, it's wonderful."

"Yeah... Nami?"

"Mm?"

"Can I ask you something?"

"Go for it."

Chaud seriously debated asking the question that had been bothering him ever since his waking from the dream. "Angel... what did he look like?"

Nami paused, straightening up. "Why... why do you ask?"

"Just... please, Nami, answer."

Still looking a tad apprehensive, Nami said, "He was blond. Gray eyes... _very_ handsome," she added with a little smile. "Girls would be all over him."

"And?"

"He was always small for his age," she added. "Why do you need to know? You don't he's linked to anything, do you?"

"What? No! Nothing like that!" Chaud said quickly. "I just... I had a dream. I thought it was him." _It's not technically a lie... right?_

"Oh..." Nami flopped back down on the blanket. "Then are there any other suspects?"

"For... what, now?"

"For Mamoru's shooting, for why I'm not dead, for... anything, really..." Nami scooched closer to Chaud on the blanket. "Anything?"

"Nothing. Just the usual suspects," Chaud sighed.

"Johnny?"

"And all the rest of them."

"Every single one?"

"Naturally." Chaud frowned, waiting for a leaf to fall to the ground from the tree standing above them.

"How do you think you'll catch them?" Nami asked.

Thinking for a moment, Chaud said, "I honestly don't know. If I did... we'd already have them."

"Yeah... I guess..."

"We'll just have to be smarter than they are."

---

"What's up with you and that stupid necklace!?" Darque demanded. Johnny and the gang were congregated in the safehouse, Johnny refusing to stop fiddling with the 'N' necklace Patch had stolen from Nami.

"It's a souvenir," Johnny said innocently.

"Cut the act, it is NO souvenir," Axiom said. "It's the piece of evidence that could get us caught."

Johnny sighed pointedly. "What else do you suggest I do with it? Put it _back_?"

Silence.

"Yeah. So I thought."

Johnny kept fiddling with the necklace while the team wandered around the safehouse for no apparent reason.

"Seriously, Johnny. Why keep it?" Darque asked as the rest of the team conversed amongst themselves. "Why not make a REAL DarkChip out of it?"

"Because. This is special."

Darque eyed Johnny suspiciously. "I don't think I've ever heard you use the word 'special' before in all your creation."

Johnny frowned, reconnecting a few broken chain links. "This necklace proves it."

"I don't want to ask... but what does it prove?"

"That those two brats are only human. They can't possibly win," Johnny said, tearing the ribbon away from the burned, darkened charm.

"We knew that from the start. No piece of metal can clarify that," Darque said. "Why keep the darned thing?"

"Would you like to continue arguing about this?" Johnny asked. "Or just accept the fact that no matter what you say, I'm going to keep it?"

Darque strode off, dismissing the rest of the team. As he reached the door, Rage turned back. "Johnny—"

"No," Johnny snapped, threading a chain through the hole vacated by the ribbon.

"But Nami—"

"Not if she was the last soul on Earth."

"What if—"

"NO, Rage!" Johnny merged the two ends of the chain. "This necklace IS MINE. Get used to it. Now go home. I hear that's where she is."

Leaving the necklace hanging on a latch next to the latest addition to the news stories on the wall, Johnny shoved Rage out the door, locking it behind them.

---

"Where are you going, Raize?" Mamoru asked, not bothering to look up from his book.

Raize sighed. It was a few minutes past midnight.

"How did you know it was me?" Raize asked.

"Who else would have a reason to sneak out?" Mamoru marked his place in the book, looking up the stairs at Raize. "Come down or go back to bed."

"Shouldn't YOU be in bed?" Raize shot back.

"Raize, get down here."

Raize tramped down the stairs, facing his brother.

"Yes, brother?"

Mamoru shook his head. "Cut the act."

"Can I go out now?"

"No. Where were you expecting to go?"

"At the moment? My room."

"Raize!" Mamoru sighed. "Seriously. Where would you have gone if I wasn't here?"

"I'm gonna go find Johnny Thirteen," Raize sighed half-convincingly.

"SERIOUSLY, Raize."

_Hey. I told the truth, so there. Ha._

"I wanted to go out and walk a bit. Maybe meet up with Allen."

"Why?"

"Because I can."

"Raize, you can't keep doing things like this," Mamoru said seriously. "You have to keep your grades up, and I imagine you can't focus in the morning if you've been out all night."

"Watch me." Completely ignoring his brother, Raize pushed past him and walked out the door.

"Aren't you going to stop him?"

Mamoru looked up. Ailee had woken up, and was now at the banister, rubbing her eyes. "Well?"

"If I stop him now, he'll resent me more than ever. Best to let him learn from his own consequences," Mamoru sighed. "Eventually it'll sink in."

"Through HIS thick skull?" Ailee laughed. "You'll have to bash the message in with a mallet to get him to understand."

Mamoru smiled, closing the door behind Raize. "Johnny Thirteen... really..."

---

_If Johnny catches me... I am SO finished._

Rage gently broke the lock on the safehouse, creeping inside. _You'd think there would be security... but then again, what are we guarding against? They have no idea where we are._

In the faint moonlight streaming through the wooden slats of the roof, a few of the news stories were illuminated.

_I wish they trusted me... I wish they'd tell me stuff... but how can they? I have a family... something THEY'VE never had._

Rage unhooked the necklace from the latch, carrying it over to the desk in the corner. Placing it down next to a black ribbon he had brought from home, he stared pointlessly at the pair of items.

_How do I do this again...? It's..._

After a few silent moments in the dark, a bright light shone over the desk. When the light died, Rage held two identical copies of Johnny's necklace.

_The ribbon..._ Tearing the chain off one of the copies and tossing it aside, he passed the ribbon through the gap, tying it closed. _There... she'll never know the difference... but how can I get it back to her?_

---

"Everyone sleep well?" Ailee asked the next morning.

"Yeah!" Sean said. "I'm SO ready for my math final today!"

"Sean? Today is English," Nami reminded him.

The smile vanished from his face. "Aw, MAN! I studied and everything!"

"Come on, you can study with me and Chaud while we walk," Nami offered.

"Sure..."

"Where's Raize?" Nami asked, sipping her milk.

"Still sleeping, I think," Sean said, digging through his bag for flash cards.

"Nami?" Mamoru came in from outside, Chaud accompanying him. Mamoru was holding a stack of mail. "Something for you."

"Hm? Really?" Nami took the envelope from Mamoru.

"Who's it from?" Chaud asked.

"Um... your boss."

Curious, Sean and Chaud leaned towards her as she opened the letter.

Out fell her necklace, charm, ribbon and all, completely restored.

"Wow..."

"Is there a note?" Sean asked, grabbing the envelope and pulling out a piece of paper. "Yeah!"

"What's it say?"

"It says: 'Processed as evidence, cleared. Good as new. – Maether.' Cool. You get it back!"

"I never thought... I thought it was gone for good," Ailee admitted.

"Me too..."

Hiding upstairs, Raize smiled as he got up and went back to bed. _And life is good again..._

In his room, Carter waited for him. "Hey, Rage. Guess who's in trouble now?"

---

"So. I found THIS on the ground when I came in this morning."

Johnny held up a chain identical to the one now around his neck. "Someone wanna explain?"

No one spoke.

"Rage, didn't you want to get it back?" Axiom asked. "You could've stolen it."

"Well, I didn't, did I?" Rage said. "It's right there around his neck!"

"No one's accusing you," Patch said. "But this tape is."

Patch launched a video of the safehouse, iron-clad evidence of Rage's break in.

"PATCH!" Rage threw a blow his way, the blow quickly escalating into a fight.

"KNOCK IT OFF!" Johnny roared, launching cuffs at them both as various members of the team ran forward to break the pair up.

"So it WAS you who broke in," Patch snapped angrily, Darque and Axiom holding him back. "Why deny it?"

"I never said I didn't break in, I just said I didn't take that stupid necklace!" Rage snapped, Johnny and Caden keeping him from diving at Patch again.

"Apparently it's NOT stupid," Carter barked from the behind desk. "I don't know if you NOTICED, Rage, but your sister received a letter in the mail this morning. THIS was inside."

Carter threw a few photos of Nami down on the desk, taken from a distance on what appeared to be this morning's walk to school. The necklace was back around her neck.

"Who was the letter from?" Dash asked, picking up a couple of the pictures. Johnny walked towards him, tossing a glance a the photos.

"Mr. Augustus Maether."

Ace grinned. "So not only thievery, but forgery."

"Of Maether?! Come on!" Deton shouted. "This is bad! Maether is STILL investigating that Castillo arena for evidence, and THIS is what he's looking for!"

"It's like I said! This is the piece of evidence that could get us caught," Axiom said.

"So I gave it back to her! So what!?" Rage shouted.

"Which one is the real one?" Archer asked. "It's the real one we need to worry about."

"Rage?" Cardinal asked expectantly. "Which one?"

"Why should I tell?"

"BECAUSE!" Johnny exploded, finally venting all his rage. "If the one around your sister's neck is the real one, and it gets out that Maether gave it back when CLEARLY he has NO IDEA where it is, WHAT do you think is gonna happen?!"

"Johnny—"

"RAGE!" Johnny pinned Rage up against the wall by the neck with his free hand, the other holding the chain. "Which is the real charm?!"

"I— don't know!" Rage choked, three feet off the ground.

"DON'T tell me you don't know!" Johnny thundered.

"I don't!" Rage snapped, kicking Johnny away from him.

Rage fell to the ground as Johnny staggered back, his fist still clenched around the chain, the rest of the team completely silent.

"Johnny?" Patch asked nervously. "Johnny...?"

"Get out." Johnny glared up at Rage.

"But—"

"GET OUT!" he roared.

Rage didn't move.

"Darque!" Johnny snapped.

Obedient in the face of Johnny's wrath, Darque moved forward, dragged Rage to his feet, and escorted him outside.

"DARQUE! Lemme go!" Rage demanded, fighting the grip.

"Shut up, Rage!" Darque snapped. "Do you understand what you just did? This is worse than getting yourself landed in jail!"

"How is it worse!?"

"Because!" Darque slammed Rage against the base of a nearby oak tree. "Maether doesn't have the necklace, but Nami has a signed note FROM HIM telling God and everyone else that the necklace has been cleared as evidence! If Maether comes forward with some line about him needing to double check something or about him never signing the godforsaken note in the first place, we're in trouble!"

"WHY, Darque?!" Rage asked, defiant even in the face of possibly imminent death.'

"Rage, if the charm that Nami has is the real one, and Maether finds out that it IS, that chip is going to have our coding ALL OVER IT," Darque explained, infuriated. "Johnny wanted that thing on him at all times to prevent something like that from happening!"

"Well, how was I supposed to know that if he never TELLS us anything!?" Rage snapped, trying valiantly to break free of Darque's grasp.

"Because, Rage, you are expected to be INTELLIGENT."

Without a comeback, Rage shook Darque's hands off his shoulders, sliding down to sit on the roots of the tree.

"So. Wanna explain now, or would you rather wait until you don't have a spot on the team anymore?" Darque asked.

"What?"

"You keep making our lives torture like this and you're not gonna be around much longer," Darque said.

"True..."

"So?"

"Well... Nami's my sister," Rage explained sadly. "I can't let this stuff happen to her. Not while I can do something about it."

"Why would you WANT to?"

"That charm was the only thing she had when they found her outside the orphanage. No one knew what it was or what it meant; all they knew was that it could probably lead her back home. Wherever THAT is," Rage sighed. "It's the only link to her past that she has."

"It sounds like it's more important to YOU than it is to HER."

"How do YOU know? She's been out for weeks; she hasn't been able to give an opinion on it."

"Well... seems like she'd put more value on something that has meaning to it. Like the snowflake the Blaze kid gave her," Darque reasoned. "A charm that means virtually nothing isn't something I'd expect her to keep."

"Yeah... still though... her without that charm is like snow in July."

"It's happened before."

"But never again. Not while I'm around."

---

"Johnny, Rage isn't the issue here," Carter said reasonably.

"Then what IS?!" Johnny stormed, still clutching onto the copied chain.

"_Raize_ is the issue," Connor said. "If Raize didn't have that family to worry about, then Rage wouldn't be so pressed to do this kinda stuff."

"Like save her from the chip in the first place and land her in the hospital," Caden added.

"If he hadn't saved her, it would have been MUCH less catastrophic," Axiom agreed. "Things left to their own devices generally work out better..."

"The only way to get Rage to behave is either to get him to forget about his family, or to somehow perform a miracle," Cardinal sighed. "I don't see another way."

"I don't either," Carter agreed.

"We could KILL the family and be done with it," Patch suggested bitterly. "We got Angel, why not the rest of them?"

"Rage has never gotten over the fact that we DID get Angel," Ace said. "And that we didn't TELL him until it was too late for him to stop us."

"Why on earth would we have told him any sooner?!" Johnny snapped. "It's his family that's keeping him from being a functioning member of this team!"

"What are we supposed to do about it, though?" Deton asked. "We can't kill them all, or Rage would go postal and rat us all out or something. On top of that, we need them for something Regal wants the Assassin to do... we kill them now and we're all getting shut down."

"So then?" Dash asked. "There's not much else to do but give him one more chance."

"Another CHANCE!?" Johnny barked. "He's been given 'another chance' too many times to count!"

"What else can we do?" Caden asked simply. "We can get him kicked out of college so he'd have more time to pull jobs with us."

"But without the college ruse, he'd have to get a REAL job to support the family!" Johnny dismissed angrily. "We can't have him do that; most likely he'd get kicked back out on suspicion of stealing!"

"And with his new record of being in jail for the 'Alliance Trial' and all," Carter added.

"We can't do much else," Cardinal said. "There is nothing else we can do."

"Give the kid another chance," Ace said. "He may not deserve it... but he sure needs it. Besides that family, we're all he's got."

"True..."

"We'll put him on probation for a while or something," Caden suggested. "We'll keep him off the major jobs, and he can't be trusted with major information, but he'll still be around for us."

"I don't trust him with major information as it is!" Johnny snapped. "He hasn't been on a major job since the trial! Why is 'probation' any different from the privileges we've already given him!?"

"Johnny," Dash said calmingly. "Unless you want to kill the kid and have THAT under investigation INSTEAD of the dang necklace, it's gonna have to do."

Still furious, Johnny stormed towards the safehouse door.

---

"Darque, why won't Johnny tell us anything?" Rage asked.

"Heck if I know. He likes to keep to himself, I guess. That's all. Who are we to question it, right?"

"I'm his little minion, that's what. Don't I deserve to know what he's planning!?"

"After this little incident? I'm thinking not."

Johnny came out the safehouse, the door blasted to pieces.

"RAGE!"

Cringing at the sound of his name, Rage stood up, Darque backing away quickly.

"Johnny."

Johnny pushed Rage up against the tree yet again, giving him the most evil and menacing of glares as he threw the chain down at Rage's feet.

"You tick me off ONE MORE TIME... and you will get consequences. You hear?!"

"I hear..."

"Stay out of my way."

"What—"

"For your own safety and for the safety of your FAMILY, don't get in my way until you can be a good villain again."

With a swift punch to Rage's stomach, Johnny stalked off.

Getting up and dusting himself off, Rage stared after Johnny's retreating figure.

"Wow. You got off EASY," Darque said, amazed.

"Yeah..." Picking up the chain that Johnny had thrown down, Rage sighed. "I'm going home now... I don't think you'll be seeing me for a while."

"Oh, we will. Sooner than you think," Carter said, hanging off the roof of the safehouse. "But definitely go home before Johnny changes his mind."

---

"Chaud?"

"Hm? Yeah, Nami?"

"Do you think... someday... we could see the rest of the world?"

"Yeah. Definitely."

"Do you think we'd be safe?"

"Absolutely."

"I mean from them."

"Of course we would. Johnny and his gang can't possibly be everywhere at once."

"But there are thirteen of them, and they can cover a lot of ground amongst themselves!"

"Nami... stop worrying. Everything will be fine. I promise, I'll keep you safe if it's the only thing I do in my life."

"But Chaud—"

"Don't."

"...Fine."

"Nami, I love you. That's what matters right now."

"I know... I love you too... and I always will."


	52. Capture

Chapter Fifty-Two:

Capture

Raize walked back through the front door. The house was empty, everyone either at work or school.

"What am I supposed to do now...?"

He flopped down on the couch, thinking.

"Johnny never told me he killed Angel... but..."

Raize sat bolt upright, realizing something.

_ "You. You killed Angel."_

_ "That I did. And I'm going to kill you too!"_

"TORCH!" Raize shouted.

"ACK! What?" Torch asked.

"Who killed Angel?"

"Duh. The Black Assassin," Torch said. "And he would probably love to kill you too. You know perfectly well—"

"That can't be right... Johnny killed him... wait a second—"

"What are you talking about?" Torch asked, confused. "Johnny wasn't around until _after_ Angel died."

"Um... Torch, are you low on power?" Raize asked.

"Not really—"

"I'm gonna charge you anyway," Raize declared, dashing up the stairs.

"What for? I'm fine—"

"If Mamoru or someone calls, I'll be back before dinner!" Raize shouted over his shoulder, running back down the stairs and dashing out the door.

_The Assassin would kill _me_, no problem... but no way he'd kill an Alliance member like Johnny!_

---

"No new evidence, sir. I don't think—"

"That will be my decision," Augustus Maether snapped at the assistant. "Keep looking!"

"Sir, we've been looking for weeks! The park has been shut down long enough, we've combed every inch of it! There is nothing here!"

"Find that necklace," Maether barked. "If we can get the DarkChip necklace, we can leave."

"DarkChip necklace?" Lan looked around from the entrance to the haunted house. "It's not here."

"I KNOW!" the assistant shouted.

"How do we know it isn't here?" Maether asked, exasperated.

"Because! You sent it back to her, didn't you?" Lan asked. "That's what Chaud and Nami said. She's probably wearing it right now."

Maether froze, putting this information together.

"Hikari?"

"Yes, sir?"

"Find them both. Bring them here. I want to talk to them."

---

"What's going on, Lan?" Maylu asked. "We're studying for finals! Shouldn't you be—"

"I know, Maylu, I know!" Lan sighed, on Maylu's doorstep. "I need Nami and Chaud!"

"I dunno where Chaud is, but Nami's here... why?"

"We need her necklace back," Lan explained, looking around Maylu to see Yai and Nami in the room beyond. "Nami, can I talk to you?"

"Sure..."

"Do you know where Chaud is?" Lan asked as Nami joined Maylu at the door.

"At the moment?" Nami asked. "Probably at work."

"He wasn't there with me," Lan said. "At Castillo, I mean."

Nami frowned. "Why Castillo?"

"We're still looking for evidence and stuff... but I need to bring you and Chaud to see Maether."

"But... this is about the necklace, right?" Nami asked. "I got it back from him, remember? You saw the note."

"I know, but Maether wants to see you guys anyway, I guess," Lan said. "Come on! It'll only take a minute..."

"I'll go home and get the note, you go find Chaud," Nami said, setting off down the street.

"Um... okay..."

---

"ProtoMan!" MegaMan ran through the Official data tunnels, looking for ProtoMan. "Heeey! Are you in here, ProtoMan?"

"MegaMan?" ProtoMan poked his head out of one of the tunnels. "What do you want?"

"Maether wants to talk to Chaud and Nami," MegaMan relayed. "We need you guys at Castillo."

"What for?"

"Nami's necklace."

ProtoMan shook his head. "Why on earth should we go talk to Maether about something he gave back?"

"I don't know," MegaMan sighed. "It's Maether here. He's not gonna take no for an answer. Might as well. If the story adds up, it should only take a minute."

"All right, all right..."

"ProtoMan, what's going on?" Chaud asked, looking up from the desk of work.

"Maether needs us at Castillo," ProtoMan said.

Chaud frowned, set the work on the desk, and got up to leave. "Why?"

"It's about Nami's necklace," MegaMan repeated. "We need to see it."

"Maybe he's finally losing it," Chaud thought aloud. "He sent it back to her with the signed note..."

"Then this shouldn't take long," MegaMan coaxed. "Come on! Maether's waiting!"

---

"I didn't sign this note, Miss Hallissy," Maether said brusquely, looking it over.

"Then who did?" Nami asked, confused.

"Believe me, we'll find out."

"Maether, sir, what's this about?" Chaud and Lan arrived. Chaud looked confused, whereas Lan looked hassled.

"Blaze. Why on earth did you think I sent this necklace back?" Maether asked.

"Because of that note that you signed," Chaud said, indicating the letter in Maether's hand. "Why else?"

"Why didn't you confiscate the necklace?"

"Because of that note!" Chaud repeated. "Perhaps this is a misunderstanding, but whatever really did happen doesn't matter. If we can process the necklace _now_, then the problems are solved. Right?"

"Wrong," Maether snapped. "Someone out there found the necklace, _repaired_ it, and then sent it back to miss Hallissy with a forged note."

"Meaning?" Nami asked.

"Meaning that whoever found the necklace has probably taken all the information off of it when they repaired it," Maether explained. "It'll be useless."

"But you don't know that," Nami said. "It might still have evidence or whatever on it!"

She took it off, Maether refusing to take it.

"Wha...?"

"Any evidence still on the necklace will have been compromised by your handling it," Maether said. "Your prints and DNA will be combined with any of the culprit's as well."

"But... what if we're not looking for DNA or fingerprints or anything?" Lan asked. "What if it's in the coding of the—"

"Hikari, the thing is a necklace," Maether said. "Yes, at one point it was a DarkChip. However, the thing is repaired. Any coding in the DarkChip will have been compromised as well."

"I see... but it still can't hurt to just test it," Chaud said.

"It's pointless, and I am in charge of this investigation," Maether said authoritatively. "I will make this decision. You may keep the necklace—"

"But what if whoever repaired it made it into something else?" Lan asked. "Like a bomb or something?"

"Any piece of metal that can be made into a DarkChip cannot be used to make anything else, Hikari," Maether snapped. "Leave. Now."

"You know," Nami said, as she left with Chaud, "I don't think I'll wear it quite so much anymore..."

"Maybe you'd better let me hang onto it," Chaud suggested. "I'll keep it safe in the impoundment vaults if you want."

"Nah," Nami sighed. "I want to keep it... I just don't think I want to wear it all the time."

"All right..."

---

Rage burst through the doors to Regal's main room, a long room with a desk and a high-backed chair sitting before walls of black glass. "REGAL! I wanna talk!" he shouted.

Dr. Regal turned around, having been studying some form of paperwork. "Hm? About what?"

"I want to talk about Johnny," Rage snapped. "Why doesn't he tell me anything?"

"Because you have a family," Regal said simply, returning to his papers.

"I know that! But Raoul has a family, too, and they're not all over him!" Rage pointed out. "And I highly doubt that the other eleven of us are all orphaned kids!"

"All of you are over the age of ten, I assure you," Regal sighed, half-sarcastic.

"I sorta figured."

"What's this about, Raize?" Regal asked, still studying his papers.

"What's the point of your little Assassin?" Rage asked, still standing in the doorway.

"Clear off the data mask and then we'll talk," Regal said, sitting down in the chair. "You wouldn't have come all the way here without a team if you didn't have a reason."

Rage scowled, deactivating the Alliance body armor.

"Now. What is it that you want to know?" Regal asked, finally looking up from the paperwork.

"Mind telling me where the Assassin is?" Raize asked.

"Off in the Square, where he normally is," Regal answered. "Really, Raize. What is this about?"

"I want to know why Johnny doesn't trust me," Raize said seriously. "I want to know why no one tells me the truth, and I want to know who killed my brother."

"Johnny doesn't trust you because he doesn't trust _anyone_ with something he doesn't know about," Regal said. "Johnny has no idea what a family is like. For all he knows, you could be his brother. He doesn't completely understand how families work, and because of that he doesn't know whether or not the rest of them know you're a villain."

"But why won't anyone tell me the truth?"

"What on earth do you mean by that?" Regal asked. "Anything I know, you will know."

"What about all the stuff Johnny knows but doesn't tell you?" Raize countered. "How are we supposed to know what's real?"

"I'm sure I don't follow."

"Who killed my brother?"

Regal frowned, confused. "Mamoru is still alive, is he not? Impaired, but—"

"Not Mamoru!" Raize shouted. "Angel!"

Regal sighed, folding his hands. "The Assassin killed Angel."

"The Assassin or the _Black_ Assassin?" Raize pressed.

"I couldn't tell you that if I wanted."

Raize's scowl turned into a smile. "Regal. Thank you for confirming _everything_ I needed to know!"

Without further word, Raize replaced the body armor and scrambled out the door.

"He's smarter than I thought," Regal said to himself. "But what can I do now?"

_ARRIMAN LOG 12.17.03.0X: RAGE ENTERS, ALONE, WANTING ANSWERS. HE RUNS OFF, POSSIBLY REALIZING WHO KILLED HIS BROTHER. THE WORST IS TO BE EXPECTED._

---

Johnny sat on the ground of the safehouse at eleven o'clock, staring across the room at the dozens of articles pinned up on the wall. The articles chronicling their path of destruction and immorality.

_Crack_. Someone stepped on a twig below them. Johnny sat up, startled. _Who in their right mind is at the zoo at this hour?_

"Johnny? Y'in here?" Rage scrambled in from outside, looking a little flustered under the armor.

"Didn't I tell you to stay away from me?!" Johnny snapped.

"I know! I know!" Rage said submissively. "But I've got some news for you!"

"From who!?"

"From... well, from me, but it's about the Assassin."

"What about him?" Johnny scoffed, dropping back down on the floor.

"He's in the Electown Square—"

"Who cares?"

"—alone—"

"So what?!"

"—trying to cut out the receivers we have on the Jomon store," Rage finished.

"And?"

"Remember what Patch did to 'em?" Rage asked.

"The same thing he does to every other one," Johnny said. "Where are you going with this?!"

"Patch's got a failsafe on them, which means that if he gets through to the power source, he'll be done for."

Johnny looked up, a hint of a smile flitting across his masked face. "What are you trying to say?"

"I'm saying that if you go and off him now, we'll have him out of the way."

Johnny leapt to his feet, beaming. "I like the way you think!"

"So?" Rage asked surreptitiously. "What will you do?"

"First off, good job," Johnny said, now pacing around the room. "Secondly, get the Blaze kid out to the Square."

"How?"

"I don't care, just get him there and don't get caught," Johnny snapped. "Someone from the DTC Officials chapter. And lastly, make sure your family stays at home until someone comes."

"Someone... like Connor or—"

"Someone like the police, Rage," Johnny said, still preoccupied. "Go."

"Johnny—"

"GO! Don't push it, Rage!" Johnny ordered.

Rage left the safehouse, silently congratulating himself. If there was any other way to get back on Johnny's good side, he didn't know what it was.

_ARRIMAN LOG 21.17.03.0X: REVIEWED ANGEL HALLISSY MURDER LOGS. ASSASSIN STILL KNOWS NOTHING. RAGE A POSSIBLE THREAT TO THE MANAGEMENT OF THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN J13 AND THE ASSASSIN._

---

_What the...!?_

Someone was banging on the door of the Blaze household, and had been for the last twenty minutes.

Kenichi, finally fed up with the banging, descended the stairs to find his son already at the door.

"What's going on?" Kenichi asked.

"I don't know..."

Opening the door, Chaud found himself face to face with Rage Seven, leaning against the door frame.

"Want to catch a villain tonight?" Rage asked.

"Only if it's you!"

Rage dashed off into the night, just fast enough to stay out of reach, Chaud close on his heels.

"Where are we going?!" Chaud shouted.

"If I told you, where would the surprise be?!" Rage shouted back.

"You're turning Johnny in?"

"Who said I was doing _that_?!" Rage snapped. "I'm taking you to the capture site!"

"The what?"

"Shut up and run!"

Twenty sprinted minutes later, Chaud looked around, having lost track of Rage in the Electown Square.

_NOW what am I supposed to do?_ he thought.

"Chaud?"

Mamoru rounded the corner, seeing Chaud. "What're you doing out here?"

"Catching criminals... I think. Did you just see...?"

"They're back, aren't they?" Mamoru asked.

Before they had a chance to contemplate the next move, an earth-shattering bang erupted from nearby. Someone had fallen onto the ground.

"How did you find me?!" the Black Assassin demanded, only a few feet away, trying vainly to rise from the ground.

"Little birdie told me," Johnny's voice shouted from high above the Jomon tower.

"What the—" Instinctively, Chaud dashed between two buildings, dragging Mamoru with him, careful to stay out of sight.

Johnny bounded off the tower, joining the Assassin on the ground.

"What do you want with me?" the Assassin demanded, abandoning the attempts to get up.

"I want the truth," Johnny snapped, glaring down at the incapacitated Assassin. "Why on earth would you think you were the one who killed Angel Hallissy?"

"Because I did!"

"You're a liar." Johnny dug the end of his shoe into the Assassin's side, turning him onto his back. "You're a little Regal pawn and you know it."

"Regal respects me!"

"Regal _uses_ you," Johnny corrected calmly. "You are nothing but his little messenger boy."

"I proved myself when I took down the Hallissy!" the Assassin shouted. "I—"

"You did no such thing," Johnny snapped. "I was the one that killed Angel, and I can prove it."

"As can I!"

"Oh, really?" Johnny backed off, arms crossed, clearly displeased behind the mask. "Shoot, then. I'd like to see what lies Regal equipped you with."

"They aren't lies! I killed Angel Hallissy!"

"How, genius?"

The Assassin creeped slowly away. "Why should I tell you?"

"To prove that Regal's not a failure and that he told you what I killed him wi—"

"Firewires! And Regal's advanced pyrotechnics cogs!" the Assassin shouted. "The house was on fire, and the

"Yeah? Well, has it ever occurred to you that you have _never used pyrotechnics in your life?!_"

The Assassin paused. "I... was granted special privileges."

"And when the heck has Regal ever granted _anyone_ special privileges?" Johnny demanded. "I would absolutely love to know!"

"Only to me! I remained loyal!"

"Because you're an idiot," Johnny concluded. "A lied-to useless idiot."

"I am NOT useless! You're the one who refused to help Dr. Wily out of jail!"

Chaud froze behind the wall. _Did Wily break back out? AGAIN!?_

"Well, no one _asked_ me," Johnny pointed out. "Because I obviously don't care what Wily _or_ Regal do."

"Wily regrets ever training you!" the Assassin spat.

"I'll try not to take it personally." Johnny walked towards the Assassin, the dark armor surrounding his body dissipating before their eyes.

_Oh my God..._

"Wh—" Mamoru, looked around the corner at the adversaries. "Angel!"

"Mamoru!" Chaud grabbed the sleeve of Mamoru's medlab coat, taking away his cane to prevent a dash towards certain death. "I told you! This was the guy I saw in my dream!"

"But— that's not Johnny!" Mamoru hissed desperately. "That's my older brother!"

"Angel! I know!" Chaud whispered, watching the two rogues out of the corner of his eye.

"But how...? The Assassin killed my brother, not Johnny," Mamoru said.

"Sssh, we might find out while we're here!"

"I. Killed. Angel. Hallissy," Johnny said, the dead ringer of Angel, blond hair and all. "You had _nothing_ to do with it!"

"LIES!" the Assassin shouted.

"Look at me," Johnny commanded, staring down at him. "Look. Is this the face of the man you killed?"

"Of course!"

"And why do you recognize it?"

"Because I saw the last breath he took!"

"How?" Johnny demanded, finally stopping as the Assassin collapsed against a wall, still on his back. "Because you downloaded all of Regal's logs when he created you."

"No such thing!"

"If you had killed him, why don't _you_ carry his image?" Johnny asked. "Why me?"

"I carry his name, not his image!"

"Regal doesn't make a whole lot of mistakes," Johnny said. "I'll give him that much. But one of his smaller ones: didn't name you Angel. As for his biggest mistake? Creating the likes of _you_."

"I am no mistake!"

"Stop fooling yourself!" Johnny shouted, the darkened armor back up in a split second, concealing the form of Angel Hallissy. "I killed Angel, even if you won't admit it!"

"You speak nonsense!"

"I speak the truth! The Arriman logs are what made you who you are!" Johnny snapped. "The Arriman logs that I can read! The ones that Regal writes! The ones he downloaded into you to make you older! The ones that make you who you are!"

"Liar!"

"_I_ was Regal's assassin before you were! When I left him, I became J13 and _you_ took on the Assassin label! Everything you know since your creation hasn't been you! I was the one who killed Angel! It was me that started your career! The Arriman logs—"

"The Arriman logs are a myth!" the Assassin shot back. "Regal—"

"You think Regal trusts you with _everything_?!" Johnny demanded, shooting flames from his palms down at him. "Regal wouldn't trust his own father, and who can blame him!?"

Too winded to respond, the Assassin tried his best to crawl away from Johnny.

"The Arriman logs let me know anything that Regal knows," Johnny said. "And he has _no idea_! He doesn't know that I know your secrets!"

"My secrets are of no use to you!"

"Yeah? Then explain why _they_ are here!"

Johnny shot more flames towards the alley Chaud and Mamoru were hiding in.

"MOVE!" Chaud shouted, shoving Mamoru out of the way to dodge the flames.

"The Blaze kid and the head of the Hallissy household!" Johnny shouted. "One of us is going to jail tonight, and it's not gonna be me!"

The Assassin, seeming to regain his strength, leapt up from the ground.

"Your team has seen the horrors of jail already!" he snapped, readying shuriken stars. "What difference will it make to you if you go to jail?"

"Oh, a lot. I have a lot more to lose," Johnny said, hands glowing with a bright light. "Whereas you _do not_!"

The streetlamps short circuited, sparks flying everywhere as the enemies surged together.

"Chaud!" Mamoru shouted, completely helpless without a cane or means of assistance.

Racing towards Mamoru while avoiding the battle in the Square, Chaud realized something.

"Wait a moment... RAGE!" Chaud shouted, remembering who had brought him here in the first place.

Rage was on top of the Jomon tower, unable to breathe for laughing.

"I can't believe this worked!" he snickered to himself. "Johnny's gonna love me forever if this works out!"

Looking down, he saw not only Chaud, but Mamoru staggering away from the fight.

_DO NOT MOVE FROM THIS SPOT_, he heard Johnny's voice telling him from mere minutes ago. _Not for the LIFE of you_.

"Man! Mamoru, get outta here!" Rage hissed, unwilling to disobey Johnny. It was all down to Chaud to keep Mamoru safe.

"Chaud!" Mamoru shouted again. "What are we gonna do!?"

"Not much we _can_ do, Mamoru!" Chaud reached him, pressed the cane back into Mamoru's hands, and promptly shoved him in the opposite direction to avoid bodily injury. "We just have to wait until they stop fighting!"

"Can't you get backup or something?!" Using the cane to keep from falling backwards, Mamoru limped off to the side, panicked. "You're with the Officials!"

"At the moment, I _am_ the Officials!" Chaud shouted back. "No one is going to answer a call for another hour or so!"

"So get the Hikaris or something!"

Flames ignited the café next door to Jomon, leaving Mamoru and Chaud little place to hide.

"What can we do!?" Mamoru asked, clearly fearful. "We can't just _leave_ them here, can we?!"

"Not unless we want half the neighborhood burned down!" Thinking fast, Chaud pulled Mamoru with him away from the fight, pulling out PET. "ProtoMan!"

"What's going on!?"

"I need you to get Lan and Maether here!"

"Chaud, wha—"

"JUST GO!"

ProtoMan disappeared, leaving Chaud and Mamoru to hope for the best.

"ADMIT YOUR MISTAKES!" Johnny shouted up at the Assassin, now perching atop a metal awning over the burning café in hopes of regaining a bit of energy.

"I make no mistake! You are the reason Regal and Wily trust no one!" the Assassin shot back, intending to bound down and face Johnny again. Johnny met him in the air, delivering a solid blow to the Assassin's chest.

"What's going on, Blaze?!"

Maether and Lan showed up as the Assassin fell the twenty feet to the ground from where Johnny had hit him, the armor disappearing from his body.

No.

_Her_ body.

Even from their distance, it was clear that a woman was now lying on the ground where the Assassin should have been.

"Wha... a _girl_?" Lan gawked. "Seriously!? Holy cow!"

"Who is she?" Maether wondered, still wary of Johnny on the premises.

"I think I know." Mamoru had gone pale, watching the motionless woman on the ground.

"What?"

_ "What do you think, Mo? Who's gonna win?"_

_ "It's a fair shot for both of them, I suppose. They both got this far."_

"I work with her!" Mamoru said. "That's Angela; she works with me at Jomon!"

"Angela?"

Johnny's feet touched down on the ground beside Angela.

"I _told_ you I knew your secret," he whispered, his own Alliance armor coming down. "I _told_ you your assassinating career was a lie. But it's your own fault, eh, Angel_a_?"

Turning around, Johnny saw the minute gathering of Officials and NetSavers. He waved casually over at them, then vaulted over Angela's body and away into the night.

"Aren't we gonna stop him?" Lan asked, shaken.

"We can't. We've got the Assassin right here, and he— _she_— obviously can't escape," Maether said, also shocked.

"Angel..." Mamoru slid down the brick wall of the Jomon store, unable or unwilling to believe. "But... it doesn't make sense..."

"When does it _ever _make sense?" Chaud pulled him up to his feet. "Go home, Mamoru. We'll take care of thi—"

"MAMORU!"

A voice, observably fabricated, tore through the air. Angela lurched to her feet, unsteady.

"I know who you are."

"What's she talking about, Mamoru?" Maether demanded.

"I don't know... Angela, what's going on?" Mamoru asked.

"I know your family, and I know their secrets!" Angela shouted.

"She's not right in the head," Lan concluded.

"Come on, you two," Maether prompted, "let's get her out of here."

---

"How'd you do it, Rage?!" Connor asked. They were in the safehouse a few days later, the gang gathered together to plan the next attack on Regal's assets.

"Took a little digging... but anything's possible for us, right?" Rage grinned, letting the momentary glory of taking down their biggest adversary save the authorities.

"It's crazy... but it's awesome..." Connor looked across the room at the articles as Johnny pinned up a new one.

Black Assassin Caught At Last.

"Who'd've thought he was a _girl_?" Axiom wondered. "It's a wonder, if anything."

"Maybe Regal cracked up and decided to make sure the Assassin stayed loyal," Caden bantered.

"Come on. Women are more independent these days than ever," Johnny said. "Which is why we have to be careful now. With Angela outta the way, there's a chance that they'll start _seriously _investigating everyone that comes in and out of the city. Anything goes now."

"Oh, we'll do just fine," Cardinal sighed.

"Anyhow... we're looking at some serious wrath from Regal now, aren't we?" Rage asked.

"Well, I dunno about the rest of us," Johnny said, "but definitely you and me, buddy."

"You can take him," Darque said seriously. "He's just as mad as his dad."

"Speaking of... that junk about Wily breaking back out," Johnny remembered.

"WHAT?!" the team yelled in disbelief.

"Wily broke out again!?" Archer spluttered.

"_Almost_," Johnny said quickly. "Almost. Angela confessed. He's back in jail where he belongs."

"Did Angela tell who we were?" Darque asked, sounding a little concerned.

"Like she'd _know_. Angela doesn't know anything about us except that we're free and she's not," Johnny said.

"What about that Mamoru guy?" Patch asked. "He said he knew her."

"Yeah, he does," Darque said. "Didn't he go visit her in jail or something?"

"Nah," Johnny said. "Angela gave him some spiel about _knowing their secrets_ or whatever before Maether and kids took her in. The security guard kicked 'em out and got Angela in an asylum."

"That solves the majority of our Regal-related problems," Connor said satisfactorily. "So what now?"

Johnny kicked back on the table, staring out the window.

"We wait."

* * *

SECOND YEAR (and one day) COMMEMORATION

If you are still reading this: You have either come in to the story late, or you are one of the few who have been with me for two years yesterday! Hooray you!


	53. Back Again

Chapter 53:

Back Again

((A/N: OHAI GUYS. Wow, it HAS been a while. I'm still alive, I promise. But enough of that, LET'S DO THIS THING))

Two Years Later

"Can I help you, sir?"

Chaud looked up. "Hey, you."

Nami grinned at him, leaning on the chip shop counter. "If you hang around much longer, I'm going to lose my job."

"I'm not bothering you, am I?" he asked.

"No, you're just distracting me."

Chaud snickered, shaking his head. "Come on, Nami, you have better focus than that. And Higsby wouldn't fire you."

"You never know. I've been on my toes since he switched from aliens to ghosts," she said.

"When are we studying for finals?" Chaud asked, looking over the chips on display in the counter. Nami sighed, brow furrowed.

"Thinking… thinking… I know Maylu and I had something planned, but she's sick so I don't know if that's changed…"

"You could study with me," Chaud not-entirely-subtly hinted.

"But if things have changed with Maylu, then Yai will want to either study with me, ask me to teach her to sew, or both at once."

Chaud laughed. "What're you gonna do, sew equations onto pillows?"

"If we have to." Nami checked the clock. "Nine o'clock. Buy something or scoot, I need to close up."

"All right. I'll see you in a minute," Chaud said, leaning in for a kiss. Nami playfully pushed him away.

"I'm on the clock!" she giggled, turning away. "Higsby would kill me!"

"But—"

"In a minute, Chaud. Let me close up shop."

"All right, all right." Chaud scooped up his school bag and retreated out the door.

The cool April breeze blew by him, carrying the faint scent of rain in from the mountains. He wandered along the path a little bit, leaning on a streetlamp.

"What's the plan, big shot?" ProtoMan asked. "We DO have homework to do tonight."

"It's Friday."

"Point being?"

Chaud sighed. "Can't I have some fun?"

"We don't have to do this tonight, you know," ProtoMan said. "It can wait."

"I would LIKE to do this tonight, though."

"Because… why?"

"Because roses wilt."

ProtoMan frowned. "Fine. Seriously, do you have a plan?"

"Not really."

The lights in Higsby's shop went out. Nami and Higsby both came out, talking. Higsby locked the door, bid Nami goodnight, and went on his way. Nami turned and saw Chaud waiting under the streetlamp. She smiled, and ran to join him.

"May I walk you home?" Chaud asked, imitating cordiality as he extended his arm to her.

"Why yes, you may," Nami said, giving him a quick peck on the cheek.

They started off on the familiar route to Nami's house, discussing the day's events and the weekend plans. On any other day, this would be routine verging on boring, were it not for the fact that Den Tech High's junior prom was coming up.

"…and so I thought it was funny that Sean wanted to come back for it," Nami was saying. "He didn't go to his because of that Johnny Thirteen lockdown, so…"

"So are you saying you want him to come?" Chaud asked.

"So I'm saying that I'm not sure it's a good idea for him to come," Nami said, looking concerned. "I mean, he's in college and all, he won't really know anybody at our junior prom. Except us, I mean."

"DTC High is a pretty small school, he'd probably learn everyone's name by the end of the night," Chaud reasoned. "Besides, it's not like most people don't know him. At least, they know _of_ him."

"Only because he's my brother," Nami said.

"Do you want him there or not?" Chaud asked simply.

"I would love it if he came," Nami said. "But I just worry about him. He doesn't do well at big parties, but—"

"But he has an interest in coming," Chaud said.

"Do you think he should come?" she asked, biting her lip nervously.

"I don't think it's my decision to make at all," Chaud said. "I honestly don't think it makes a difference either way to anyone but him, and possibly you."

"Okay." Nami nodded resolutely. "Okay. Then we can't go together."

Silence for a moment. They had almost reached the steps to Nami's front door when Chaud finally put it together.

"Wait, _what_?" Or not.

"I presume that's what the rose sticking out of your backpack is for," Nami said shrewdly. "Am I right?"

Chaud frowned, turning pink. "Y-Yeah, but what do you mean?"

"Technically, Sean will be my date."

"_Technically,_" Chaud pointed out. "Which means _technically_ we could still go together."

"Theoretically, we'd _all_ be going together, it's just that he would need to stay with me to get in, and—"

"Nami. Enough." Chaud took out the rose, presenting it to her. "Regardless of whether or not Sean comes, will you still be my non-technical date?"

Nami smiled, relaxing. "Yes. Yes I will."

"Okay. That, Nami, is all I wanted to know." She took the rose from him, beaming.

"Sorry. When it comes to fine print, Ailee kinda has me trained."

"I noticed." Chaud kissed her, careful not to crush the rose between them. "I'll see you tomorrow? Maybe?"

"I'll call you," she said. "On the off-chance Yai got sick too."

Nami went inside, pausing for a moment at the door to smile at him. "I love you, Chaud."

"I love you too, Nami." He smiled back at her, waited until she'd gotten inside, then started the short walk to his own house.

"I take it that was NOT what we expected," ProtoMan said.

"No, not really. But I'm kind of glad Sean will be there," Chaud said.

"Even if that means for the one night, you and Nami aren't technically dating?"

"Shut it."

"Why do you think Sean wanted to come if he's no good with parties?" ProtoMan wondered.

"I dunno. I guess it's a high school thing that he regrets missing," Chaud said. "if nothing else, I'm glad we'll be able to see him again."

Since Sean had graduated the previous summer and gone off to college, they had seen less of him. It was rare that he came back for anything other than holidays. Come to think of it, it was also becoming increasingly rare to run into Raize since he had managed to graduate college and get a "real" job.

"Yeah. It'll be nice to catch up with him for a bit."

"So. How about that homework?" ProtoMan suggested.

"Not tonight."

ProtoMan scowled. "Fine."

* * *

"It's green."

"I know."

"Why is it green? Didn't it used to be blue?"

"Indeed it did."

"What the…? Why do I care?" Johnny asked, crossing his arms as Regal took away the telescope.

"You're running out of time. I told you and your team to take up base there, and there's not much time left for that to happen," Regal said evenly.

"…And?" Johnny gazed absently out the window. "Why would I wanna live on a green asteroid?"

"That's where the Arriman program is," Regal said enticingly. "I know of your interest in it."

"What's it matter? It's been two years since you said that, and nothing's happened," Johnny said. "Didn't you say it was on a 'direct collision course with Earth' or something? How far away is it, that we're all still un-collided with?"

"Perhaps my calculations were a bit off—"

"Ooh, there's a first," Johnny snapped. "What is this about, really?"

Regal took a deep, steadying breath. Dealing with Johnny had definitely not become easier with time. "I was under the impression that the Arriman program was important to you."

"Guess again," Johnny said. "Once you get interested in something, it loses all value to my team."

"Harsh words. You truly bear a grudge against me, don't you?" Regal asked.

"Damn right I do. I don't need your help, or your demands. We get along just fine on our own."

Johnny started walking off down the long hallway, his black data armor up in an instant. "Tough to get people to do your dirty work since we put Angela away, huh? When you're actually worth something, lemme know."

Regal scowled, watching Johnny walk away.

_ARRIMAN LOG XII_: _J13 STILL UNCOOPERATIVE AND HOSTILE. DRASTIC MEASURES MUST BE TAKEN._

* * *

The weekend passed quietly, with nothing of note taking place. The world had seemed exceptionally quiet since the Alliance Thirteen had apparently gone back into hibernation, a year after the Black Assassin was incarcerated. Raize jokingly celebrated that Nami had managed to stay out of the hospital for quite a while, likely due to the lack of inexplicable tournaments and random Darkloid appearances.

"Is it really a cake-worthy occasion?" Ailee asked one evening, reading over her court papers.

"Of course it is!" Raize said. "Lookit us! Nami's healthy, Mo's a full time doctor, you're a full time lawyer, Sean graduated high school, I graduated college—"

"Which reminds me," Mamoru said, peering over his glasses at his brother. "Have you got a job?"

Raize paused, deflating. "Yeah."

"Where at?"

"At the store by the zoo in Yoka."

"Yoka's pretty small, from what I remember," Ailee said. "When did they open a store?"

"Just last year, I think," Raize said. "It's pretty new. I'm like their star employee."

"Hm. The next time I'm there, I'll have to visit," Mamoru said, a doubtful tone to his voice.

"Yeah."

Raize sat back down in his chair, his vie for cake effectively shot down.

"GUYS! OMIGOSH GUYS!" Nami dashed down the stairs, Chaud in tow. "Guys!"

"Not deaf," Raize grumbled.

"What, Nami?" Ailee asked as Mamoru shot a quick 'be nice' look at Raize.

"Sean is coming back for our junior prom!"

"That's— wait… what?" Raize asked. "Why's he coming for you guys's prom?"

"Because he didn't get to go to his because of that lockdown, remember?" Nami said. "So he's coming to ours!"

"Well, that sounds like fun," Mamoru said. "Is he allowed?"

"He's alumni, so he just needs to have someone escort him in," Chaud explained.

"Wait, how come I can't go?" Raize asked indignantly. "Why didn't you all ask me if I wanted in?"

"Because you are not DTC alumni, you DID go to yours in Netopia, and I would rather come out of my prom night in one piece with nothing broken," Nami said matter-of-factly. "Anyway. He'll be back in town next Friday so he can come!"

"Oh, it'll be nice to see him again," Ailee said, smiling reminiscently. "It's been… how long now? Three months, since we saw him last?"

"Yeah, I think so…"

As the family happily chatted about Sean's return, Chaud sat back, wondering what it would be like to have such a close knit family. His father's mood had softened toward Chaud himself and the entire Hallissy family in recent months, but was nothing like what he saw in this room now.

"We should have Chaud over for dinner that night," Ailee decided. "What do you think?"

"Hm? Oh, yeah. I'd love to come," Chaud said.

"You miss him too, huh?" Raize asked, cracking a smile. "Can't blame you. You're pretty much family, too."

Chaud saw less of Nami in the coming week, as she prepared both for Sean's return home and for the junior prom. As a male, Chaud couldn't even begin to comprehend why Nami, Maylu, and Yai spent increasing amounts of time together, discussing colors and flowers and dresses and things, a confusion he seemed to share with his other male classmates. As far as he was concerned, the night would be spent with Sean and Nami, a little bit of dancing and music, and then walking back home.

"…and so I'm stuck between the two dresses," Maylu was telling Nami on their way out of class. "I don't know! Purple or pink?"

"It's an evening event, purple will be better," Yai said knowledgeably. "You never wear bright colors to evening events."

"What color is your dress, Nami?" Maylu asked.

"Blue," she responded, "but not dark blue. Just normal blue."

"You'll look pretty in that," Maylu decided, smiling. "Maybe I'll get the purple one so we can semi-match."

Nami laughed. "We'll talk more later, okay? See ya!"

Chaud shook his head, having remained silent for the duration of the conversation. "I will never, EVER understand her fascination with fashion."

"I don't think I will either," Nami said, watching Yai and Maylu walk off towards Maylu's house. "But I can appreciate a good dress when I see one."

"Only because you look lovely in everything," Chaud said swiftly, giving her a kiss on the cheek as she blushed.

"You're just saying that."

"Then it must be true," he added, taking her hand. "So. A blue dress, huh?"

"Yup. Sean's only tie is blue, so I figured…" She trailed off, looking at him. "Are you mad?"

"…What? Why? Why would I be mad?" Chaud asked, confused. Had he said something?

"It's just… with Sean coming home and coming to prom with us," she said. "I feel like I'm kind of ignoring you in favor of him. Are you mad?"

"What, that Sean's coming?" Chaud asked. "Of course not. I think it's great."

"Really?" Nami frowned. "Really really?"

"Yes, really. As long as I still get to dance with you."

Nami's expression softened. "Okay. I can do that."

"All right. Anyway. Blue dress, blue tie. Does it really matter what colors they are?" Chaud asked, racking his brain for the contents of his closet. Did he own any ties that were a color besides black?

"I guess not really," Nami said pensively. "But then again, if they match, may as well, right?"

"Right."

"Why? Do you happen to have a blue tie too?" Nami asked, grinning.

"I actually don't know. I'll get back to you."

Nami looked him up and down, beaming. "You know, I don't think it matters. Red is kind of your color."

Chaud shrugged. "I'll figure something out, I'm sure."

All in all, life was good.


	54. Hello, Sir

Chapter Fifty-Four:

Hello, Sir

"Hey there, sir! Nice to see you again, Mr. Hallissy," the night-shift maintenance workers outside of the Yoka zoo said, waving him down. "You come here pretty often, huh?"

"Yeah. Animal lover," Raize semi-lied, cheerful. "What's going on?"

"Not a lot, just this gate doesn't wanna stay locked," the head maintenance man said, nodding to the gate on the high voltage tower. "You'd think there were people who come here after dark… ha!"

"Yeah, how 'bout that," Raize mumbled, making a mental note of it. "Better keep a heavier lock on it, I guess. Nobody should be going up there."

"No kidding. You'd get shocked somethin' horrible. Anyway."

They returned to work, Raize going off on his way.

_Dammit, I told them not to break the lock anymore… _Of course, knowing the gang, it was entirely likely that they broke the lock solely to annoy him. That sounded an awful lot like something Johnny would have them do.

As night fell, Raize watched from the outskirts of the zoo until the maintenance workers left. When it was clear, he put up his armor and dashed up the tower, wondering who he'd find at the top tonight.

"What's going on, Seven?" Patch's cool tone greeted him at the top. "Why aren't you going to the safehouse?"

"Same to you," he retorted.

"I asked first."

Rage scowled. "I haven't seen anyone there yet."

"Don't be stupid, Rage, I saw you waiting by the zoo all day," Patch snapped. "You haven't been to the safehouse yet. What are you doing here?"

"I gave you my answer, now you give me yours," Rage said evenly.

Patch scowled back. "Thinking."

"High voltage helps you process, I guess." Rage stretched out, looking off in the direction of the safehouse. "Whatcha thinking about?"

"I haven't seen Regal at all lately," Patch said. "I'm getting kind of worried. I think Johnny went to see him the other day, but he won't say anything."

"Why do we care about Regal?" Rage said. "Angela was our last Regal-related problem, he's no concern of ours."

"On the contrary. Even if Angela was the last of it, we've still got to worry about updates and things," Patch said. "Shouldn't matter much for you, since your double ID is safe… for now."

"And what the hell is that supposed to mean?" Rage demanded.

"Ya slipped up already, it's just a matter of time," Patch said, vaulting down from the top of the tower to climb down. "We all know it!"

"That was years ago!" Rage shouted down at him, following close on his heels. "I think everyone's forgotten about i—"

"Oh PLEASE, Rage," Patch growled, turning to face him once they hit solid ground. "No one's forgotten it, solely because no one wants to repeat it. I'm just glad it was you and not me."

With that, the pair stalked off to the safehouse, silent and angry.

Johnny was already there, as were the rest of the team. "So. How's everyone been?"

"Cut the chat, Johnny, what are we doing here?" Deton asked, bored. "It's been years, I wanna do something that _doesn't_ involve hiding."

"Well hello to you too." Johnny crossed his arms, annoyed. "Sorry to burst your ever-eager bubble, but this isn't an action job."

The entire gang groaned. "Then what, Johnny?" Darque asked, maintaining calm.

"Just a warning." Johnny turned to the wall of news clippings. He had recently put up a new one, about how all massive threats were "gone" from Electopia. "I found something interesting in Regal's log the other day."

Johnny turned around, facing the twelve others. "Something about drastic measures."

"And?" Cardinal asked. "It's Regal. Who cares?"

"Just be careful where you go," Johnny said firmly. "If Regal's got something up his sleeve, we don't know about it yet."

"Regal's got nothing," Archer said. "How can he have anything, we put away his best. At worst, he's got a skeleton."

"Angela is still alive," Johnny said, impatient. "She just doesn't work quite right anymore. If Regal manages to get her back out and functioning, anything goes."

"So… what, you want us to monitor the police station for criminal activity?" Patch asked. "That's not our job, Johnny. We _are_ the criminal activity."

Johnny paced around in front of the news articles. "Just watch out. If Regal starts taking action—"

"What, take him out?" Darque asked. "It's not that simple and you know it."

"Just be on the lookout!" Johnny barked. "The last thing we need is to be a man down!"

* * *

Wednesday before Prom

4:25 PM

"Hello, sir!" Nami beamed, following Chaud into his house.

"Hello, miss Nami," Mr. Blaze said cordially. However he might feel about Nami now, at least it was polite.

"We're gonna be upstairs studying," Chaud said.

"All right. I'm leaving in a bit, I'll be back late," Mr. Blaze said. "Be good."

"And you said there was no good in him," Nami teased softly as they climbed up the stairs.

"It's been a pretty long while, I think he's either gotten used to it or finally accepted it," Chaud said doggedly.

"Or maybe he actually likes me," Nami suggested, pulling out a book.

"Or maybe he only tolerates you."

"Ouch. Well, fine."

"I didn't say that _I_ just tolerate you!" Chaud said defensively, flopping down on the floor with his bag.

"Are you suggesting I'm intolerable?"

"What— I— Nami, what—" Chaud frowned as Nami crossed her arms, a sort of half-smile on her face. Finally, he shook his head. "You need to stop hanging out with Ailee while she's working."

"She's my sister, it's not like I can avoid her completely," Nami pointed out. "Anyway. Viral infections, physical and technological…"

They fell into a comfortable silence, the scritching of pencils and the occasional question popping up now and again.

"Hey kiddies, email," Sen said finally, breaking the silence. "It's from—"

"HOLD ON." Nami quickly scribbled out the end of a sentence, ending with a flourish. "Kay, go."

"It's from Sean," Sen said. "His car's busted, he won't be coming Friday. But he'll be here by Saturday afternoon."

"Oh. Oh, okay. Better tell Mo and the rest," Nami said, disheartened. "Oh well… as long as he'll be here."

"Yeah, he said he'll be here, but it'll just take a while until he gets his wheels fixed," Sen said. "Not to worry."

"That's a bummer," Chaud said. "What happened to his car?"

"Didn't say," Sen said, looking over the email. "Knowing Sean, if he says he can't come, he probably has three popped tires or something. He said he'd take the bullet train if it comes to that."

Nami laughed. "Okay. Good."

"'I'll go tell Ailee." Sen disappeared from the screen.

"What's his major again?" Chaud asked.

"Programming," Nami said. "He said he's been working in chip development. Maybe he'll bring something home for us to look at. Knowing him, he'll be taking homework with him."

"Chip development, huh? Sounds cool."

"He's having fun." Nami closed her book, her paper still inside it. "So. Now what do we do?"

"Are you finished?" Chaud asked incredulously. "We only just started."

"Yeah, but now I'm thinking. If Sean isn't here, Ailee won't have a reason to put out a dinner on Friday for everybody…" She retreated into her thought.

"If there's no dinner, that's fine," Chaud said. "Really."

"If you say so."

"Seriously, Nami, stop worrying so much," Chaud advised. "It's really not a big deal."

"It's prom."

"It's the dinner before prom. Don't get all worked up over it," Chaud said.

"Yeah… okay. So where were we?…"

* * *

Electopian High Security Prison

10:48 PM

The guard fell. Taking the key from him made getting inside so much easier.

The list displayed on the wall showed that the two prisoners he wanted were right next to each other. This was convenient.

"Who's there? Hey! No one's allowed here this late at—"

A single shock, and that guard was out too. This was really quite pathetic. Almost archaic, the security and the cell blocks were laid out more like a dungeon than a high-tech prison.

A quick look around the cells showed where the technology was. The traditional bars had been replaced by electrified glass, the stone walls reinforced with iron and steel. The heat from the glass balanced out the cold metal, making the place bearable, if not comfortable.

Finding the desired cell, he found its occupant awake. Wily was a mad scientist, after all. Insomnia was the mixed blessing of the job.

"Hello, sir."

Wily turned around, looking mildly concerned. "Oh… OH."

He approached the glass of his cell, a grin spreading across his face. "Hello yourself."

Angela, having heard the commotion, had woken up, and came to investigate. "YOU!"

"Hush, Angela," Wily snapped. Angela's eyes narrowed, but she obeyed. "Now… what brings you here?"

"I need your help."

"Is that so?" Wily cocked his head, still grinning maniacally. "And what can I do for you, son?"

Regal took a step closer to the glass. "It's about Johnny."

Angela looked positively murderous. "What about him?" she growled.

"That he's an insolent, impolite, and bloody-minded inflexible excuse for a weapon?" Wily guessed.

"I need him. And he won't listen to a word I say," Regal said.

"So you're asking me for help?" Wily asked. "Why, dare I ask, do you need his help at all?"

"It's complex, and requires a more in-depth explanation than I can give you here," Regal said. "But I need his help. His team."

"All of them?" Wily asked carefully. "What in the world could you possibly be doing that needs that much power?"

Regal held out a newspaper.

_Strange Asteroid On Dangerous Course, SciLab Working to Correct._

"SciLab has gotten there first," Regal said. "If we want to get to the Arriman program before them, we need to work fast."

"What's with all this 'we' business?" Wily demanded, irate. "I'm in prison, sonny. I'm not much use to you."

"Then make yourself useful, old man," Regal growled. "Tell me how to make Johnny cooperate."

"As I said… do you need the whole team?" Wily asked.

"Why?"

"Because… if there's one thing Johnny will listen to…"

Wily, Angela, and Regal huddled together, planning.


	55. Success

Chapter Fifty-Five:

Success

"Chaud?"

"Hm?"

"You're all official and stuff, you can tie a tie, right?"

"Yeah. Need some help?"

Sean unknotted his checkered blue tie for the tenth time that evening. "Please. I'm useless with these things."

Prom was midway through. Things had begun to get a little hectic, prompting Sean to suggest a breather in the lobby of the hotel prom was being held at. There were a few others milling around, getting drinks and recuperating from dancing.

"Sean, where did you even get that thing?" Nami asked, looking over the tie.

"I think it was Dad's," Sean said, letting Chaud take over. "Or Mamoru's. I can't remember. It's old, though."

"That wasn't Mo's," Nami said, appraising it thoughtfully. "I think that one must have been Dad's."

"Hold still, Sean," Chaud mumbled, trying to get it right. It was harder tying it on someone else, having gotten so used to tying it on himself.

"Sorry. I don't know how I can tie it and have it come undone so much."

"It's quite an accomplishment." Chaud evened out the knot. "There. Better?"

Sean examined his newly tied tie. "Better than anything I could do. Thanks, man."

They sat down on a bench outside. "Sooo. What do you think, Sean?" Nami asked. "Was this worth it?"

"GOD, yes. I missed you crazy kids," Sean laughed. "And the dance isn't bad, either."

"You two thirsty? I'll go grab some drinks," Chaud offered.

"Hey, why not. Thanks."

"Thank you, Chaud." Nami and Sean fell into conversation as Chaud sought out the drinks table. Easily spotted, really, since there was quite a few people hanging around it. Avoiding a pair he recognized as Dex and Lan, Chaud snagged a pair of water bottles and made his way back. To his surprise, Sean was there, alone.

"Where did…?" Chaud frowned. "Did Nami go somewhere?"

"Yeah, girl named Maylu ran over and dragged her back on the dance floor," Sean explained dully.

"Oh… kay."

"I wanted to talk to you, though," Sean said, accepting the offered bottle of water. "Thanks."

"Yeah. What's on your mind?"

"You remember when Raize got arrested, don't you?" Sean asked. "That whole DarkChip thing?"

"Course. What about it? He hasn't… he's not in trouble again, is he?" Chaud asked hesitantly.

"No. Not that we know of, at least," Sean said. "It's about my research, really."

"Research?"

"Nami told you I'm in chip development, right?" Sean asked, rooting through his backpack. "I've been doing a sort of thesis on DarkChips and I wanted to have you take a look at it."

"All right, sure. What for?"

"I think I've found a link between the kind of DarkChip Raize had, and that medical drama that happened with Nami and that Alliance member," Sean said. "It took me a bit to figure it out, but I wanted to see what you think."

"Sean, I'm not a scientist or a doctor, I can't really give you an educated opinion," Chaud said.

"I know. But I don't want to take it to Mamoru, he'd flip out if he thought I was researching the Alliance instead of doing my homework."

"...Are you?"

"Of course not! Will you just hear me out?" Sean asked, holding out a small folder. "If my theory is sound, it might go to SciLab."

"Wow. All right, let's hear it."

Sean pulled out a small DarkChip model. "From what I know of DarkChips, they infect the user program and… well, screw with the coding, to avoid getting overly technical," he explained. "And from what I know of the one that landed Nami in the hospital, it was made with the same material, and had similar code in it. You follow?"

"Yeah."

"So all chips are made of metal, yeah? And metal can be magnetized, even in small amounts," Sean continued. "That's how they work, they interact with the user program and you get the results. But DarkChips have never worked on humans before, and that's why SciLab is so tripped about what happened to Nami."

"Right. I remember, the Alliance pretty much turned everything on its ear with that little stunt."

"But what I think I've managed to work out is something similar to crossfusion. The human body has its own natural magnetic field, even if it's very weak. My theory is that the murder-DarkChip Nami got hit with had been coded to react with that sort of magnetic field, rather than a computer program."

Chaud frowned. "That… I guess that makes sense in theory, but what I don't quite understand is how the chip would do anything."

"Right. And that's kind of where I've hit my proverbial stumbling block," Sean sighed, slumping back in his chair, holding up the DarkChip model. "While I guess it's possible that a chip could be made to interact with a natural magnetic field instead of a manufactured and regulated one, I think it would not only take an enormous amount of research and experimentation to get it to work with one specific person, but also need a very different kind of code than what we're used to."

"Because humans aren't like computers."

"Yes and no." Sean sat back up, brow furrowed. "Yes, humans aren't like computers in that we don't all work the same way. Hence individuality and thought and philosophy. No, in that the brain is essentially the basest form of a computer. All it gets is data, and our, our consciousness, I guess you'd call it, our consciousness gets the results."

"Interesting."

"I'm heading to SciLab tomorrow afternoon, to see if I can get a look at the DarkChips they have there versus the one Raize had versus the Alliance chip," Sean said. "It should be interesting to compare the three, if I've got all my facts straight."

"You sure they'll let you?"

"Can't know for sure until I ask, right?"

"So… do you think it's possible that the Alliance has some kind of super-technology that we don't understand?" Chaud asked.

"With them, it's hard to tell sometimes. But yeah, I guess it's possible. And that's kind of why I'm worried we haven't seen them in a while. God himself might have to take a guess on what they're up to."

Chaud flipped through the papers in the folder, all outlining Sean's theory in advanced, exhaustive detail. "I think the official story is that they're back where they came from. Wherever that is."

"So… your boss isn't worried?" Sean asked. "Not to sound paranoid, but… they did try to kill my family."

"We haven't had anything to be worried about yet," Chaud said simply. "There's nothing to work with. That doesn't mean the threat is completely gone, but it's not present, either."

"Yeah… I guess you're right."

"Blessed be, Sean, you're turning out to be just like Mamoru and Ailee!" Nami had come back, slightly flushed from whatever dancing Maylu had subjected her to.

"But I just—"

"Sean, this is prom. Homework and prom do not belong in the same room, much less the same sentence. Put that away!"

Sean sighed. "Fiiine. Just asking Chaud's opinion on—"

"Later! Come on, Sean, you may get a second chance at this night, but Chaud and I likely won't!"

And with that, Nami grabbed them both and led them back inside to the dance.

* * *

3:26 AM

Johnny was puzzled, he could tell. Patch hovered by the doorway, not wanting to upset him, but with important cargo it was hard to keep still.

"Johnny? It's Patch."

"What?" Johnny snapped, brusque as ever. He didn't even turn to look at Patch, instead remaining fixated on the article he was reading.

"I got 'em."

Patch tossed the folder down on the table, its neatly organized contents fanning out. "Wasn't hard. This is just the paper copy, though. Kid didn't have the data file on him."

"Smart move. He really is paranoid." Johnny tore his gaze from the newspaper. "Anything useful?"

"SciLab would have a field day. It's not that the kid is particularly smart or anything, it's just that he knows what the important questions are," Patch explained. "And once SciLab gets close to the right track, they'll keep on it."

"Right." Johnny leafed through the research, mildly interested. "Good job."

"You all right? You seem bothered," Patch said. "Which is weird."

"I know. You can read Choina's language, right?" Johnny asked rhetorically, pointing out the article he'd been perusing. It detailed the sudden, puzzling death of a man in Choina's capital square. He had somehow inexplicably dropped stone dead in the middle of the square after complaining of a loud ringing in his ear.

"People die every day, Johnny. What's so special about this guy?" Patch asked, apprehensive.

"Deton got deactivated."

Patch looked up at Johnny, shocked. "…What?"

"Same time. This guy died during the lunch rush in Choina, and Deton went offline at the same damn time."

"So… what do you think is going on?" Patch asked. "You think the guy just had a heart attack or something?"

"If it was a heart attack or a stroke or anything, he would have lived," Johnny said. "Double IDs can live through pretty much anything, so long as they don't lose motor function and their nervous system."

"Then how did he die?"

"I dunno." Johnny grabbed the article and the folder of DarkChip research and pinned them both up on the wall for further examination.

"Chalk this one up to coincidence. Deton was created twenty years ago, it was probably about time anyway," Patch suggested. "Maybe it was a core malfunction."

"If it was a core malfunction, Darque woulda gone first," Johnny said. "There is no such thing as coincidence."

"Setup?"

"Maybe."

"Murder?"

"I doubt it. This guy, he was nobody. Just like the rest of our double IDs, I bet. No one had any reason to murder him, and if it was murder, there would have been evidence."

Patch sighed. "Are you sure Deton's offline?"

"Yeah. Rage 'n I confirmed it earlier."

"Well…"

There was a loss for words. Getting into jail was one thing, but going offline was entirely different. Once you went offline, there was no coming back. At least in prison, you can break back out.

"This is just one loss," Johnny decided tenaciously. "The first loss, and not our fault. We can let it go."

"Deton—"

"—doesn't matter anymore," Johnny finished decisively. "Good work getting the research."

"…Yeah."

Patch left, bothered. An Alliance member offline, after twenty years.

Maybe their victims weren't the only ones who needed paranoia.


	56. Enemy Action

Chapter Fifty-Six:

Enemy Action

He'd been reading the paper all normally wasn't unusual, if it had been Mamoru or Sean.

"Raize, whatcha reading?" Nami asked, finally voicing her concern.

"Huh?" Raize mumbled vaguely, still staring at the news. "Nothing."

"You've been staring at that page for almost an hour," Nami said. "Something interesting?"

"Nah. Just… can't seem to focus."

In truth, it was another puzzling death. Johnny had slammed them all with the news of Deton's deactivation last week. Another, eerily similar death had occurred the previous night in Netopia. He was anxious to know if he needed to be this worried.

"Get enough sleep?" Ailee asked, clearing the breakfast table.

"Yeah."

"Really?"

"Yeah, really. What is this, twenty questions?" Raize folded the paper semi-neatly, and retreated to his room.

"Ray?"

"What's up, Torch?"

"You saw that article, huh?" Torch asked sagely, arms crossed.

"Don't get me started… I'm freaking out. You know what happened to Deton," he added in a low voice.

"Course I do, you think I'm okay with it? One day it's thirteen untouchables and then…" Torch sighed. "Anyway. Johnny's got that article pinned up too. Roll call to figure out how much of a threat it really is. Time to go to work."

Raize facepalmed. "At least I'm okay. And by the sound of it, so is Johnny."

"I think Darque and Caden made it through, so it's not something age-related," Torch reeled off as Raize got dressed. "And you're still alive, so it's not double ID."

"Have the Officials started worrying?"

"Not yet. I don't think so, anyway. Patch will probably have more on that. But really, why would they?" Torch asked.

"Why not? Two unexplained deaths that have coroners questioning each other. It looks like the same sort of thing, someone must be taking notice," Raize said, shrugging on a coat.

"One guy in Choina, and now one guy in Netopia. I don't think serial killers move that fast between continents."

"We do."

"That's different."

* * *

"Sir, this isn't even under our jurisdiction." Chaud frowned. "I don't understand what you're concerned about."

"Same here," Lan agreed, crossing his arms. "Run this one by me again, sir?"

Augustus Maether sighed. These two boys… good Officials. Not so good at problem solving, it seemed.

"These two deaths are connected," he said, staring at the papers stuck on the case whiteboard with magnets.

"By what?" Lan asked.

"Lan, don't. Sir, we're not the homicide division, this isn't our area at all. Moreover, they aren't even in the same country," Chaud pointed out, taking a highlighter and marking over the city names. "Look. Capital Square in Choina, and Central Plaza in Netopia. They're on opposite ends of the earth."

"Maybe so. But—"

"Even if we were taking this as a case, there's nothing to go on," Lan added. "There's no evidence of anything other than a bizarre, natural death. Sort of like SIDS, but with adults."

"And if that's the case, then better bring it up to SciLab. Whoever's in charge of diseases. This isn't our job, and it's not our priority either," Chaud finished decisively.

Maether's eyes narrowed. "Fine. Out with you. I'll figure this out myself."

"Do you think he's finally gone and cracked?" Lan asked quietly as they packed up and left the office.

"I wouldn't doubt it… but I don't think so. There's something off about those deaths, but whatever it is, it's left us with nothing," Chaud said.

"So you think he's right?"

Chaud thought a moment before responding. "I don't think he's _entirely_ wrong. I just think he's going about it the wrong way. The more I try and puzzle it over, the more it seems like something's going on. But the fact is that there's just nothing to work with."

Lan looked worried. "Yeah. You're right."

"Remember. Once is happenstance, twice is coincidence, and third time is enemy action," Chaud parroted. Lan laughed.

"Sure. Whatever you say."

* * *

"What's the damage?"

"400 in rent for each of us."

"If it'll knock the rent down, I'll move out," Raize offered.

"Don't be silly," Ailee said absently. "We're doing just fine."

"Seriously, I could probably live at the hotel. It'll kill my commute cost too."

"It's up to you," Mamoru said. "You _are_ an adult."

"I'll see if I can talk to them tomorrow about a long-term stay," Raize said, retreating to his room again.

"So. Plans?" Torch asked once the door had clicked closed.

"Gonna try and move closer to the safehouse. We've all gotta be careful."

"So someone else DID get deactivated."

Raize sat down on his bed. "Number Nine. Cardinal's out."

Torch crossed his arms, worried. "So… what now? Anything on the cops?"

"Patch did some recon yesterday. He said that Maether's suspecting something, but that no one else does because there's no evidence of foul play," Raize said. "If anything, this is making Maether look like a crackpot, so we've got that going for us. But it's still freaking us all out."

"And that's why we're moving closer to the gang?"

"Might as well. Safety in numbers, yeah?"

* * *

"And we're down to nine."

Johnny tacked up yet another article on the wall. As though Deton's and Cardinal's deaths hadn't been unsettling enough. Axiom and Archer had been taken down, both that morning.

"We've gotta pull this article," Johnny said.

"What? Why?" Carter asked.

"Take a look at this."

The remaining members slowly gathered around the article.

"Oh, mother of…"

"What is it?" Rage asked, slow in getting up as normal.

"Don't." Carter held him back. "You'll just get mad, and no one needs that."

"We lost four people already, what could possibly upset me more?"

Rage broke free, and shoved past Patch and Ace to see the article, to see what was so upsetting about Axiom and Archer's doubles.

And he stopped. The others around him stopped as well.

"Is this a joke?" he asked, his anger building. "Are you TRYING to tick me off?"

"This isn't our work," Carter said calmly. "This is feeling more and more like a setup—"

"THAT'S NOT WHAT I SAID!" Rage shouted, tearing down the article.

"That can't be who you think it is," Patch said rationally. "Think about it. They're dead. They've been dead for years."

"Then why do these people look like my parents?" Rage demanded, shoving the article at him, the two pictures of the recently dead Netopians the spitting image of Mr. and Mrs. Hallissy.

Rage continued venting, his words unimportant and quickly forgotten. The team listened impatiently, wanting to figure the whole of the deactivations out. Johnny was silent.

"…just gonna SIT THERE and do nothing?" Rage snapped finally. Johnny snatched the article from Rage's grip and tacked it back up on the wall.

"Once is happenstance… twice is coincidence… third time's enemy action," he recited slowly. "What's four, then?"

"Cut the riddles!" Rage barked.

"He's got a point," Darque said. "We've lost four of our own in under a month. We can't ignore this, even if police are."

"The only reason the police aren't looking into it is because of the spread between locations," Patch said. "And because of the lack of evidence."

"All the murders—"

"They're not murders," Johnny corrected. "They're deaths. Pure and simple. Why?"

"Humans don't just drop dead," Ace said slowly. "So no, it's not that simple."

"People don't drop dead unless there's something keeping them alive," Johnny said. "And when that something is taken away, they drop like flies."

"None of these people were on life support," Caden said.

"No. They were on us," Johnny pointed out. "Maybe we've been going about this all wrong. We've been basing the idea of double IDs on Rage."

"What, are you saying I'm lying?" Rage asked, still irate.

"No. We know you're telling the truth because we've seen it, and it sucks. What we've never seen is another double ID who's aware." Johnny stared at the three articles, thinking.

"So what?"

"These all tell us that maybe we've been wrong. Such as that doubles can be women," he noted, pointing to the picture of the female Netopian, Mrs. Hallissy's spitting image.

"I still don't see where you're going with this," Dash said. "I think it's all a load of bull."

"Wanna know what I think?" Johnny asked, finally turning to face the rest of them. "I think that the reason Rage knows who he is, is because he's healthy."

"…What are you getting at?" Connor asked slowly.

"Maybe the reason that Alliance deactivations kill their doubles is that the Alliance code in their brains is keeping them alive."

There was a pause. "Johnny, that's insane," Rage said.

"You got a better idea?"

Another pause, a guilty one. "I didn't think so."

"So what do we do?" Dash asked. "I assume we're getting revenge."

"Maybe. Maybe not," Johnny said, starting towards the door. "You all stay here."

"What the hell?" The team jumped up, outraged.

"Dammit, Johnny, we're losing numbers!" Darque shouted. "Let's be honest, we can't afford to lose you!"

"So what do you suggest, the buddy system?" Johnny snapped back. "I'm going to talk to Regal. And if you all aren't right here when I get back—"

"What, you're gonna deactivate us?"

"MAYBE!"

Darque and Johnny stared each other down.

"Stay. Here," Johnny said firmly.

"You think Regal's behind it?" Patch asked.

"He's gotta be." Johnny headed out into the night without further word.

* * *

[[A/N: Oh guys. I suck so much. I realized I forgot to tell you I was taking November for the NaNoWriMo. I'm so sorry! If it makes you feel better, I fell short by 14K words when a tornado knocked out our power. /lame excuses ANYWAY. Updates— RESUME~!]]


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